US Open 2026 Women’s Day 1

Third seed Jessica Pegula got up and running on Sunday’s opening day at the US Open with an efficient   6-3, 6-2 defeat of Gabriella Ruse to reach the second round.

Pegula is in serious contention for a shot at the top ranking after earning a WTA-leading 46th match win of the season.

The American could become No. 1 by winning the title on the condition that rival Elena Rubakina does not go past the semi-finals next week.

She will wait for an opponent as wild card Venus Williams faces injury-plagued former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin.

But the possibility of topping table is drawing little immediate interest from the seed with work to do here.

“I’d have to accomplish a lot of other really great things in order to get there. But I’m glad that it’s an option,” Pegula said.

“I think I’d have to win this tournament in order to be No. 1, but I think that just shows the level of women’s tennis right now and how well a lot of the top players are playing. 

“It’s definitely extra motivation, and I think it’s something that would be amazing, but again, it’s very, very, very, very far away.”

Pegula won with pair of breaks per set against Ruse. 

“I was so nervous today, always the first round of a slam,” the 32-year-old said after opening the programme on the Ashe showcourt.

“It’s an honour to hold that title, walking out onto Ashe opening day, first match, it’s amazing,” added the 2024 Open runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka.

With three-days of opening round play, Pegula now has two days off. “I get to sit around the site and watch everybody else freak out for the next two days,” she said.

Pegula, who was thrashed in last week’s Cincinnati Masters final by Coco Gauff, was joined as a winner by 13th seed Jasmine Paolini.

Paolini had to fight to hang onto a 4-1 lead in the last set, twice losing serve before breaking her opponent in the last game to pull off a move into the second round.

The Italian who did not play in Cincinnati due to a foot injury, defeated Slovene Veronika Erjavec 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

The two-time Grand Slam finalist in 2024 said she was tentative at the start.

“It was a tough match my first on cement. I made a lot of errors, I was nervous and tense.

“But I’m pleased I was able to win and it can only help me in the next rounds. I had a lot of chances in he final set.

“Physically I’m doing better, but now I need to play matches.”

Former French Open champion Barbora Krejikova suffered a huge fall as she exited in the first round 7-6 (4), 6-2 to Uzbek Kamilla Rakhimova a year after reaching the quarter-finals here. The winner celebrated her 25th birthday by knocking out the first seeded player of the tournament.

Krejcikova, who lost in the first round at both tune-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati, lamented her poor summer form.

“The whole US tour didn’t go well for me. I’m just not in the best frame of mind,” the Czech said. “We’ve discussed it a lot internally, and it’s a combination of several factors. 

“The biggest one is probably that my batteries are flat. 

“It’s been plaguing me throughout the whole US tour. Although we’ve been preparing, training and working hard to improve, it hasn’t worked out in a single match.” 

Donna Vekic beat Australian Talia Gibson 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, with the winner dropping a double break in the final set but recovering to advance.

Australia suffered another early loss in 68 minutes as 11th seed Marta Kostyuk dismissed Storm Hunter 6-4, 6-1 in a bid for a third consecutive Grand Slam semi-final.

The Urkainian gave a post-victory shout-ot to her pair of dogs which travel with her and her husband on the circuit. 

2021 finalist Leylah Fernandez save five beak points in one game on her way to a 6-3, 6-2 start over Zhang Shuai.