Venus returns, Alcaraz is optimistic, and young contender Mboko joins the U.S. Open
The opening round of the U.S. Open starts Monday with former champion Venus Williams making her Grand Slam comeback in the women’s division and world number two Carlos Alcaraz taking on Reilly Opelka in a tough test. In Flushing Meadows, teenage star Victoria Mboko will make her debut.
MATCH OF THE TOP MEN: CARLOS ALCARAZ VS. REILLY OPELKA
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner exacted revenge at the Wimbledon final, but Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz defeated Sinner at the French Open final, making their rivalry a major draw at Grand Slams this year.
At the U.S. Open, one of the big topics is the possibility of a third major final between the two. In the Cincinnati Open final, 2022 champion Alcaraz demonstrated his Flushing Meadows title credentials by sweeping to a 5-0 lead until Sinner quit due to sickness.
Additionally, Alcaraz will exercise caution to prevent a recurrence of his unexpected second-round departure from the 2024 U.S. Open race.
After defeating Novak Djokovic on hardcourt earlier this year, the six-foot-11 American, who is famed for his lightning-fast serves, will be hoping for a victory against the world number two’s first opponent on Monday, Reilly Opelka.
Playing Opelka for the first time will be really challenging. His style is well known to all of us. “I need to be prepared for that and focused on getting back,” Alcaraz stated on Saturday.
See what happens. I’m trying to get a decent flow throughout the match. At the moment, there is a lot of confidence.
BARBORA KREJCIKOVA VS. VICTORIA MBOKO: TOP WOMEN’S MATCH
When the year began, Victoria Mboko of Canada was rated 333rd in the world. However, the 18-year-old won the Canadian Open, participated at Wimbledon, and made her Grand Slam main draw debut at the French Open, which accelerated her ascent up the rankings.
In Montreal this month, Mboko, the wildcard, made headlines by defeating a run of Grand Slam champions, including Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, and Elena Rybakina, before shocking Naomi Osaka in the final.
“The previous two weeks have been crazy… Mboko declared after winning her maiden WTA event, “I never would have imagined that I would have made it to the final, let alone won the tournament.”
In her U.S. Open main draw debut, Mboko, currently ranked 23rd, is drawn to play former French Open and Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the opening round, another previous Grand Slam victor.
“It’s all happened so fast,” Mboko said to reporters on Saturday. “So much athleticism and amazing ball hitting are displayed here. Many of the girls hit considerably harder than I did. I thus had to quickly adjust to that and attempt to keep up with them to get used to it.
“However, I don’t think I needed to alter anything about myself… It just takes some getting used to, and as you play more matches and do it more often, you sort of adjust and alter.”
Age-defying comeback: Williams is up for the fight
Last month, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams made a successful comeback to competitive tennis. After a 16-month break, the 45-year-old won her maiden singles match and became the oldest WTA match winner in more than 20 years.
Williams declared, “I have the same fire and the same want to win,” during a straight-set victory over No. 35-seeded Peyton Stearns.
Williams has won the U.S. Open twice and been to the singles final four times between 1997 and 2002. The victory earned her a wildcard entrance to the tournament.
However, Williams meets 11th seed and 2023 French Open finalist Karolina Muchova in the opening round, preparing her for a tough pool of opponents.
The 49-time champion Williams hasn’t won a main draw match at the U.S. Open since 2019. Williams had only faced Muchova once before, losing to the American in the first round at Flushing Meadows in 2020.
It will not be simple. Nobody’s life is easy out here. However, I’m willing to put in the effort to win every match,” Williams stated.
US OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON MONDAY (seeding is indicated by the prefix number)
ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM (1530 GMT/1130 AM ET)
6-Madison Keys (U.S.) v Renata Zarazua (Mexico)
17-Frances Tiafoe (U.S.) v Yoshihito Nishioka (Japan)
Venus Williams (U.S.) v 11-Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic)
Reilly Opelka (U.S.) v 2-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM (1500 GMT/11 AM ET)
Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) v 22-Victoria Mboko (Canada)
Federico Agustin Gomez (Argentina) v 5-Jack Draper (Britain)
Sebastian Ofner (Austria) v 12-Casper Ruud (Norway)
Alycia Parks (U.S.) v 5-Mirra Andreeva (Russia)
