Australian Open champion Madison Keys became the first big casualty of the US Open as she crashed to an opening-round loss in New York.
The sixth seed, who reached the final at Flushing Meadows eight years ago, hit 89 unforced errors in a 6-7 (10) 7-6 (3) 7-5 defeat by Mexico’s Renata Zarazua.
Keys looked on her way to victory at 3-0 up in the second set only to lose five games in a row, and the home favourite, who memorably defeated Aryna Sabalenka to win her maiden grand slam title in Melbourne in January, was unable to salvage the situation.
“I feel like today, for the first time in a while, my nerves really got the better of me, and it kind of became a little bit paralysing,” said Keys.
“I want to win, but just feeling like winning matters just way too much, and I just couldn’t quite separate myself from that. Then once you start playing badly, it just kind of all snowballs.”
An emotional Petra Kvitova waved goodbye to tennis after a first-round loss at Flushing Meadows.
The two-time former Wimbledon champion announced earlier this summer that the US Open would be her final tournament.
2x Grand Slam champion.
6x Billie Jean King Cup champion.
31x WTA champion.
Bidding farewell to the iconic @Petra_Kvitova ✨ pic.twitter.com/qT3bR45TSS
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 25, 2025
Her interest in the event turned out to be extremely brief, with the 35-year-old Czech lasting just 52 minutes in a 6-1 6-0 loss to France’s Diane Parry in front of a sparse crowd.
Kvitova was tearful during an on-court presentation featuring a video celebrating her career.
“I didn’t expect myself either (to be emotional) but, since I woke up this morning, I felt it,” said the big-hitting left-hander, who returned to the sport earlier this year
Read more on breakingnews.ie
breakingnews.ie
