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Renata Zarazua topples Madison Keys as Keys exits US Open in opening round

Madison Keys hit 89 unforced errors and lost to Renata Zarazua in a three-set opening upset. at Ashe

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Renata Zarazua produced the biggest win of her career, defeating Madison Keys 6-7 (10), 7-6 (3), 7-5 in the first round of the 2025 US Open. The match on Arthur Ashe Stadium lasted three hours and 10 minutes and ended with Keys committing 89 unforced errors.

Zarazua, the top-ranked player from Mexico, came into the match 0-6 against Top 10 opponents and survived a tense opening set in which she lost five set points before prevailing. On court she said, “I’m just very happy,” Zarazua said on court. “Coming into the match I think I was almost crying because I was really nervous but the crowd made it so chill for me so I was loosening up!”

She acknowledged the crowd again, adding, “I know my game is a bit tricky so sometimes people get a bit bored, so thank you for staying and cheering until the end!” Zarazua also noted the support from fellow Mexicans: “I think it’s a country that we don’t have that many tennis players, but I had some of the Mexican doubles players cheering for me,” Zarazua said. “We just try to give our best but I could definitely hear some Mexican cheering, so that was very nice!”

Keys, the reigning Australian Open champion, was playing her home Grand Slam for the first time as a major champion and was appearing at the US Open for the 14th time. She had moments of control, including a lead in the second set and a 3-0 advantage in the decider, but could not close it out.

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In the final set Zarazua earned a break to lead 5-3, at which point Keys rallied to level at 5-5. Zarazua then held for 6-5 and reached match point when Keys netted a forehand for her 88th unforced error. A subsequent miss from Keys sealed the result.

Keys entered the tournament off a season that included a BNP Paribas Open semifinal, a Roland Garros quarterfinal and a third-round Wimbledon exit. She left the US Open as one of the early casualties.

ATP Grand Slam US Open

Sinner Improves to 18-0 in Grand Slam Third Rounds After US Open Win

Sinner beat Shapovalov 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to reach US Open fourth round; now 18-0 in third rounds. .

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Jannik Sinner advanced to the fourth round of the US Open on Saturday, extending an unusual streak in his Grand Slam record. The world No. 1 overcame Denis Shapovalov in four sets, winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to move through at Flushing Meadows.

Sinner dropped the opening set but recovered to take the next three, sealing passage into the tournament’s fourth round. The victory left the top-ranked player unbeaten in third-round matches at Grand Slam events, a specific run that now stands at 18-0.

SINNER IN THIRD-ROUND MATCHES AT GRAND SLAMS: 18-0

The scoreline of 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 is the recorded result from the third-round meeting with Denis Shapovalov. That outcome ensured Sinner would continue in the US Open draw and preserved his perfect record in this particular stage of Grand Slam competition.

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Taylor Townsend’s Return: From a USTA Rebuff to a Round-of-16 Run at the Open

Thirteen years after a USTA wild-card denial, Taylor Townsend has found her rhythm at the Open now..

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Taylor Townsend has turned a long, stop-start career into a striking return to the later stages of a major. The 29-year-old Chicago native, who won the junior Australian Open at 15 in 2012 and became the first American in 30 years to finish a season No. 1 in the girls’ rankings, beat No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-2 to reach the round of 16.

“I wasn’t searching for anything, I wasn’t looking, trying to find answers,” Townsend said after the victory. “I had all the answers in here.”

Townsend’s path has been uneven. In 2012 the USTA told her to sit out both the US Open girls’ and women’s events because of her weight. Since then she has climbed into the Top 100 and fallen out of the Top 300 multiple times. She has reinvented herself, though, as a top-level doubles player: she is a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion and reached the mixed final last year with Donald Young. “Standing here today with Donald means the world to me because he’s been in my life forever,” she said.

Against Andreeva, Townsend kept control when her opponent threatened a second-set comeback, selecting when to attack and finishing key points. “I’m a totally different person than I was in 2019, and I think that that showed,” Townsend said of the match. “I was so confident and so sure of myself and what I was doing and how I was executing, that it didn’t matter if I hit the back fence, hit the bottom of the net, it didn’t matter. I just kept going.”

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The crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium rallied behind her after a confrontation earlier in the tournament with Jelena Ostapenko, who had criticized Townsend’s behavior during a warm-up. Townsend said she did not know if Ostapenko’s comments had “racial overtones.”—”that’s something she can speak on.” “If my son were to see this interaction, how would he view it? I think he would be proud of the way that I handled the situation.” Ostapenko issued an apology on Saturday.

Townsend now faces Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday, a player who won their only previous match in 2017. “That’s what’s really cool about tennis in these moments—you’re able to reflect and look even at the mannerisms and how I carried myself then and now, you’ll be able to see it’s a different woman.”

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Grand Slam US Open WTA

Gauff steadies serve, defeats Freçh to reach US Open fourth round

Gauff limited her double faults to four, defeated Freçh 6-3, 6-1 and reached the fourth round 2025.

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Coco Gauff recovered control of a fragile service performance to advance to the Round of 16 at the 2025 US Open, beating Magdalena Freçh 6-3, 6-1 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The No. 3 seed needed one hour and 13 minutes to close out the match, committing just four double faults across two sets against the No. 28-seeded Freçh. Gauff, 21, began the match with a 3-0 lead, serving out the opening set while recording a single double fault and a strong 79 percent first-serve rate.

Gauff has drawn scrutiny through the first two rounds after altering her coaching setup to include biomechanic expert Gavin MacMillan as she works on an unreliable service motion. The 2023 US Open champion had captured her second major title at Roland Garros two months earlier, yet entered the hard-court swing with uneven results, including early exits at Wimbledon and other events and a recurring problem of double-digit double faults often described as the “yips.”

Before Saturday, Gauff reached the third round with hard-fought night-session victories over Ajla Tomljanovic and Donna Vekic. Her form on serve against Freçh offered a steadier display: she broke in the third game of the second set, added another break two games later, and dropped only two points on serve while opening a 4-1 advantage.

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Freçh, a 27-year-old from Poland, had not previously won consecutive matches at the US Open before this year. She reached the third round by rallying from a set down to defeat Peyton Stearns, securing a career-best result at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

As Freçh pushed late, Gauff served a fourth double fault but saved a break point with a well-struck volley and saw out the victory. The result sends Gauff into the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the fourth consecutive year.

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