US Open 2023: Pegula, Keys cruise into second round, Garcia falters

Third seed Jessica Pegula and former finalist Madison Keys every punched their tickets into the second spherical of the U.S. Open with routine victories on Tuesday that bolstered hopes for a homegrown winner on the yr’s closing Grand Slam.

Pegula, whose U.S. Open tune-up included a triumph in Montreal simply over two weeks in the past, earned a 6-2 6-2 victory over Italy’s Camila Giorgi shortly after 2017 runner-up Keys beat Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus 6-2 6-4.

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An American lady has not received the U.S. Open since Sloane Stephens beat compatriot Keys within the 2017 closing however Pegula has proven she simply could also be hitting her stride on the excellent time after making gentle work of world quantity 52 Giorgi.

“I think we are all hoping that we hit the right form going into a slam, especially if you get through the first week trying to hit that stride in the second week,” Pegula stated throughout her on-court interview in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“But you never really know what’s going to happen. Tennis is so day-to-day, you can feel great one week and then you can feel terrible the next. So you are just tying to really get through the first few rounds and try and get better each match.”

Pegula showcased top-quality footwork and motion as she went up a double-break for a 5-2 lead within the opening set earlier than serving out with a maintain to like that she punctuated with a stinging backhand winner down the road.

In the second set, Pegula struck first when she transformed her seventh break probability of a 26-point sport that lasted 18 minutes to open up a 3-2 lead after which broke once more earlier than closing it on her serve with a maintain to like.

At Louis Armstrong Stadium, Keys went up a double break for an early 3-0 lead en path to sealing the opener in 32 minutes and by no means regarded again because the American seventeenth seed obtained the break she wanted for a 3-2 lead within the second earlier than counting on her serve the remainder of the way in which.

Garcia ousted by by Chinese qualifier

Caroline Garcia’s hopes of creating one other deep run on the U.S. Open got here to a fast finish because the French seventh seed suffered a shock 6-4 6-1 first spherical loss to Chinese qualifier Yafan Wang on Tuesday.

Yafan Wang of China returns a shot towards Caroline Garcia of France throughout their Women’s Singles First Round match on Day Two of the 2023 US Open on the Flushing Meadows.
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Garcia, a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows final yr who went on to say the largest title of her profession two months later on the WTA Finals, was undone by 34 unforced errors towards world quantity 114 Wang.

With the loss, Garcia will fall from the highest 10 of the rankings to outdoors the highest 20.

Wang, a former world quantity 47 who missed seven months of motion in 2022 and was ranked 696th in March, has a 57-10 throughout all ranges this yr, together with titles in 5 ITF occasions and the WTA 125 event in Stanford two weeks in the past.