Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️☀️🗽
Today’s tennis mood: Chuckling at Stefanos Tsitsipas and nodding at Naomi Osaka.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
🎾 On tap: It’s the remaining first-round matches at the U.S. Open today, and it’s filled with American favorites, including Madison Keys, Taylor Fritz, Coco Gauff, Iva Jovic, Michael Zheng, and more. Gael Monfils is playing in what could be his final U.S. Open match. And out on Court 11, Jelena Ostapenko will face Tatjana Maria. 🤭 More on today’s line-up of matches below.
🎾 ICYMI: A couple of seeds in each singles draw dropped yesterday, and there were some other notable results, too.
Taylor Townsend used a home crowd and her power game to overwhelm 20th seed and Roland-Garros finalist Maja Chwalinska 6-2, 6-3.
Arthur Fils was up 6-4, 5-2 before Stefanos Tsitsipas completely flipped the script and won 4-6, 7-6, 6-1, 6-4.
James Duckworth, who retired during his semifinal match in Winston-Salem on Friday, defeated 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6.
Cristina Bucsa took out 28th seed Sara Bejlek 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
Martin Damm nearly downed Frances Tiafoe, but the 11th seed took control just in time to win 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Wild card Alexei Popyrin defeated qualifier Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Emma Navarro kept a steady hand as Lois Boisson mounted a comeback over two days, winning 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
🎾 Tea-d off: That was Stefanos Tsitsipas coming off his massive comeback win over 10th seed Arthur Fils on Monday, when, during press, he was asked about Nick Kyrgios and his anti-doping suspension for the use of cocaine. Tsitsipas, who has beef with Kyrgios, wasted no time getting into it.
What he said: “I mean, to be entirely honest with you, I knew about this before the announcement. Myself, I knew about it,” Tsitsipas said. “So what can I tell you? I will just tell you the truth. I knew about all of this before any announcement was made, and when I saw it on social media, I was, like, ‘Here we go.’ I kind of expected it, to be honest.” He added: “I knew that those were things that were happening away from the tennis courts. I will tell you that…I’m not going to try and cover up someone that I know the truth for.”
The backstory: Tsitsipas and Kyrgios played a tension-filled third-round match at Wimbledon in 2022, the year Kyrgios reached his sole major final. Tsitsipas rifled shots directly at Kyrgios, smacked balls into the crowd, and afterwards called Kyrgios a “bully.” Kyrgios, of course, was no angel. And relations never improved.
🎾 One to watch: Zeynep Sonmez vs. Coco Gauff (1st round - U.S. Open): Watch this one for a temperature check on Coco Gauff. Will she bring all the confidence she built up on her serve and forehand — and her game in general — during Cincinnati to the night session of the U.S. Open on Arthur Ashe Stadium? Sonmez, who is rapidly becoming a fan favorite, will struggle to find support in Ashe tonight. But she is punching above her ranking just outside the top 50, making for a good test for Gauff.
The record: This will be the first time Coco Gauff and Zeynep Sonmez face each other.
On the line: All the pressure to perform is on Gauff after a disappointing 2025 showing. But more than winning, she wants to kick off her run at the U.S. Open by playing with the same confidence in her serve and forehand as she did in Cincinnati to send a message to her near-future opponents that she’s picking up where she left off.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: 83% of you called for Carlos Alcaraz to defeat Roman Safiullin. Alcaraz won 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.)
And that’s game.
