mobanmarketNew York:Reigning US Open champion Naomi Osaka confronted severe nerves in a rocky start to her title defence Tuesday while men’s contenders Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas tumbled out in the first round.
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Osaka suffered a first-round exit last month at Wimbledon and the Japanese star struggled to put away Russia’s Anna Blinkova in her opener at Arthur Ashe Stadium before prevailing 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2.
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“I have a lot of really good memories here because I grew up in this area. I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous in my life,” said Osaka, sporting a black brace on the left knee that prompted her to retire in Cincinnati.
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“You want to do well after you did well last year. I definitely didn’t want to lose in the third set.”
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The top seed goes on to face Poland’s Magda Linette, who captured her maiden WTA title in the Bronx last week.
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Osaka must retain her Flushing Meadows crown to have a chance of remaining world number one and was tested extensively by 2015 Wimbledon junior finalist Blinkova, who raced 4-1 ahead in the first set and saved a match point in the second to force a decider.
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“I knew it was going to be a really tough battle. The only thing I would have wished is that I won the first match point,” Osaka said.
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Two-time French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem was upset by Italian giant-killer Thomas Fabbiano 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 as three top-10 players were eliminated from Rafael Nadal’s half of the draw.
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“I got very tired and exhausted after two sets. I’m far away from 100 percent,” Thiem said. “It was not the real me there on the court.”
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Greek eighth seed Tsitsipas struggled with cramps and accused umpires of having “preferences” after he slumped to a 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (9/7), 7-5 defeat by Next Gen rival Andrey Rublev in a gruelling four-hour slog.
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‘You’re all weirdos’
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Like Thiem, it was a second successive Grand Slam first-round exit for Tsitsipas, who was hit with a point penalty in the final set for a time violation.
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“This chair umpire, I don’t know, he has something against me. I don’t know why,” said Tsitsipas, who snapped “you’re all weirdos” at French official Damien Dumosois during his match.
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“I wish that all the chair umpires were like Mohamed Lahyani because I believe he’s the best out in the game, and we need more like him in tennis because he’s fair to everyone. I feel like some of them have preferences when they are on the court.”
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Spanish 10th seed Roberto Bautista Agut succumbed in five sets to Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan while Marin Cilic, the 2014 champion, advanced in straight sets over Slovakia’s Martin Klizan.
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Germany’s sixth-seeded Alexander Zverev battled into the second round by defeating Moldova’s Radu Albot 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2 and leading US hope John Isner smacked 29 aces in a routine win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.
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Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, ousted in the opening round the past two years at Flushing Meadows, outlasted US lucky loser Nicole Gibbs 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 while two-time runner-up Caroline Wozniacki rebounded from a woeful start to beat Wang Yafan in three sets.
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Nadal launches his bid for a fourth US Open crown in the night session on Ashe against Australia’s John Millman, the conqueror of Roger Federer in the last 16 here a year ago.
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The Spaniard owns 18 Grand Slam titles, two shy of Federer’s all-time record. Along with defending champion Novak Djokovic the “Big Three” have combined to win the past 11 majors and are again strong favorites.
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Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open winner, takes on Russian qualifier Anna Kalinskaya in round one, with 15-year-old Wimbledon sensation Coco Gauff making her New York debut against Russia’s 76th-ranked Anastasia Potapova.
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Australian firebrand Nick Kyrgios has been assigned the “graveyard shift” as the last match on Louis Armstrong against Steve Johnson.
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