Day 1 at the US Open: How is the Czech track doing and how have the biggest favourites fared so far?

On the first day we saw Tomáš Macháč and Jiří Lehečka in action. Karolína Muchová, Barbora Krejčíková and Sara Bejlek were among the women. Of these five names, only one made it to the second round. Many big favourites also finished.

Czech track

Jiří Lehečka had a great start to the match. He took the second serve from Garin and brought the first set to a victorious end 6::3. In the second set he started even better and led 3::0. But then he lost the lead and that’s where the match broke down and turned to the Chilean, who went on to win the set 3::6, 7::6, 7::5 and 6::1.

Tomas Machac, who arrived in New York in excellent form, had a similar start. However, he was up against an even better opponent, the Dutchman Botic Van De Zandschulp. It was a wonderful even battle lasting 4 hours and 12 minutes. However, Machac too was unlucky and narrowly finished after sets of 6::3, 6::7, 1::6, 6::3 and 5::7

Among the women, Karolina Muchova was the first to take the court. She is having a less than ideal season, not much is going right and Karolína vainly remembers the previous years when she was ranked more than 200 places higher. In the opening round here she met Australian Tomljanovic and she took the match in two sets 3::6 and 6::7. Muchova is thus out of the first round again.

At midnight our time Barbora Krejcikova also started her opening match. She was the biggest favourite among the Czech representatives to advance and she confirmed her role. After sets 6::0 and 6::4 she easily defeated the Mexican Conteras Gomez.

Sara Bejlek was the last Czech player to reach the opening day. The qualifier faced a quality opponent in the form of Russia’s Samsonova. As the odds suggested, Sára was going to have a very tough time and it showed. The Russian controlled the match and didn’t let her young opponent do anything. After 3::6 and 1::6 sets, the first round was left for her first participation in the adult GS.

Overview of favourites

The first match of this year’s US Open was the Wolf – Bautista duel. In this duel was not expected to be so bright and certainly not in this direction. The favored Spaniard, as the tournament’s number 16, was the clear favorite. However, he fell to the home fighter 3 times 6::4.

Where it was, on the other hand, no surprise, was the entry of the world number one into the tournament. Daniil Medvedev didn’t allow any surprises and outplayed the host Kozlov clearly, 6: 2, 6: 4 and 6: 0. Kyle Edmund challenged Casper Ruud and the difference of about 600 places on the rankings was noticeable. The Norwegian advanced easily 6::3, 7::5 and 6::2.

Greece’s Tsitsipas made another of his shortcuts. He was up against Daniel Elahi Galan Riveros of Colombia, who had qualified at the start of the tournament. In the opening two sets he allowed the Greek only one game. A terrible performance by the world number five meant a deserved end to the tournament after sets of 0::6, 1::6, 6::3 and 5::7.

The top-ranked American, Taylor Harry Fritz, in whom the home crowd had the highest hopes, also had his tournament behind him. He was sent home by another local player, the 303rd ranked player in the world, Brandon Holt, by 3::1 sets. The beloved and hated Nick Kyrgios clearly managed his match, beating his compatriot Kokkinakis 3: 0.

Among the women, Garcia, who is in great shape at the moment and is one of the main aspirants for the title, made a great entry into the tournament. She handled the Russian Akhimova smoothly in two sets 2::6 and 4::6. Maria Sakkari struggled to advance after unexpectedly losing the second set against the German Maria. But she gave her opponent a canary in the last set and was able to celebrate the advancement.

Who definitely did not celebrate after the match was another of the strong favourites, Simona Halep. She also gave her opponent a canary, but the first and third set went to Snigur from Ukraine. Halep is out of the first round. As in the case of Garcia, we can talk about a possible season of a lifetime and excellent form.

Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia is also one of the title aspirants at this year’s US Open. She showed that she is serious and that she wants to confirm my words right from the very beginning of the tournament. In the first round, the draw threw her to Ana Konjuh of Croatia. The Brazilian didn’t let her drop a single game! 2x 6: 0 is a dream opening for the Brazilian.

Daria Kasatkina has already left the tournament as the top ten seed. She couldn’t keep up with Dart right from the start and after sets 7::6, 1::6 and 6::3 she is also out. Ons Jabeur, the top five seed from Tunisia, made it through the initial screening. She defeated the home team Brengle in two sets.

Source: ATP, WTA