{"id":61806,"date":"2026-09-01T04:18:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T04:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/61806\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T04:18:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T04:18:52","slug":"us-open-2026-sabalenka-swiatek-anisimova-romp-into-round-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/61806\/","title":{"rendered":"US Open 2026: Sabalenka, Swiatek, Anisimova romp into Round 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, former champion Iga Swiatek\u00a0and Amanda Anisimova cruise into second round of the US Open.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"imgwidth\" title=\"Aryna Sabalenka\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/31sabalenka1.jpg\" alt=\"Aryna Sabalenka\" style=\"max-width:100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>IMAGE: Aryna Sabalenka reacts during her first round match against Colombia&#8217;s Camila Osorio at the US Open on Monday. Photograph: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters\/Robert Deutsch<\/p>\n<p>Key Points<\/p>\n<p>Aryna Sabalenka secured a comfortable straight sets victory over Camila Osorio in her opening match, launching her bid for a third consecutive US Open title.<br \/>\nAmanda Anisimova breezed past Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 6-3.<br \/>\nAnisimova will face Austrian Lilli Tagger, who beat Tamara Korpatsch 6-0, 7-6(4).<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>World number one Aryna Sabalenka swatted aside US Open first-round opponent Camila Osorio 6-2, 6-4 on Monday, making a confident start to her quest for a rare &#8220;three-peat&#8221; at the year&#8217;s final major.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Belarusian has been trying to turn around a dismal second half of the season, having failed to reach a final since winning at Indian Wells and the Miami Open to complete the Sunshine Double in March.<\/p>\n<p>She seemed well on her way to flipping the script with the crowd on her side at Arthur Ashe Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka&#8217;s Dominant Start<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"imgwidth\" title=\"Aryna Sabalenka\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/31sabalenka2.jpg\" alt=\"Aryna Sabalenka\" style=\"max-width:100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>IMAGE: Aryna Sabalenka is also defending her world number one ranking in New York. Photograph: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters\/Robert Deutsch<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka, who would join Serena Williams and Chris Evert as the only women to win three straight US Opens in the professional era, fired off 32 winners to set up a meeting with Russian Polina Iatcenko in the second round.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m super happy with the level I played,&#8221; said Sabalenka. &#8220;I feel like this is one of my favourite stadiums, I really experienced the best emotions here on this stadium.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Osorio handed Sabalenka a break with a double fault in the third game &#8211; one of five she had across the opening set &#8211; and slipped 4-1 behind as the Belarusian converted on another break point with an unreturnable backhand.<\/p>\n<p>The Colombian trimmed the lead to 4-2 in the next game but never got a hold of the momentum and her racket went flying in her futile attempt to reach Sabalenka&#8217;s perfectly placed drop shot on break point in the seventh game.<\/p>\n<p>After trading early breaks in the second set, Sabalenka wore down her opponent&#8217;s defence to secure the pivotal break in the ninth game, before closing it out with an unreturnable serve and a subdued celebration.<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka is also defending her world number one ranking in New York, with three other players in the women&#8217;s main draw in a position to overtake her.<\/p>\n<p>Swiatek Swats Aside Wang<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"imgwidth\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01iga-swiatek.jpg\" alt=\"Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates winning her first round match against China's Xiyu.\" style=\"max-width:100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>IMAGE: Poland&#8217;s Iga Swiatek celebrates winning her first round match against China&#8217;s Xiyu. Photograph: Geoff Burke\/IMAGN IMAGES\/Reuters<\/p>\n<p class=\"rbig\">Former champion Iga Swiatek got her US Open campaign off to a solid start, the Polish eighth seed defeating China&#8217;s Wang Xiyu 6-2, 6-3 to reach the second round.<\/p>\n<p>Swiatek claimed her first title of an inconsistent year in Toronto earlier this month and followed it up with a run to the Cincinnati semi-finals, arriving in New York with a confidence boost as she bids for a seventh Grand Slam crown.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For sure it was a good day in the office,&#8221; Swiatek said on court after her 88-minute workout.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I felt pretty good right from the beginning and I had the energy and the intensity. I want to keep it that way. Wang was playing deep with lot of top-spin so I needed the strength.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"imgwidth\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01xyu-wang.jpg\" alt=\"Xiyu Wang in action during her first round match against Iga Swiatek.\" style=\"max-width:100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>IMAGE: Xiyu Wang in action during her first round match against Iga Swiatek. Photograph: Geoff Burke\/IMAGN IMAGES\/Reuters<\/p>\n<p class=\"rbig\">&#8220;It&#8217;s nice to come to a Grand Slam after a couple of good results, especially because this swing is never one I&#8217;ve felt super comfortable at. I&#8217;ve made a lot of progress and I&#8217;m focused on improving the little things in my game.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The 25-year-old quickly seized control under the lights at Louis Armstrong Stadium, surging to a 3-1 lead before wrapping up the first set with another break when Wang sent a forehand over the baseline.<\/p>\n<p>Swiatek, the Flushing Meadows champion in 2022, pounced for a decisive break in the eighth game of the next set and secured the victory for a second-round clash with Nadia Podoroska, who saw off Simona Waltert earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Anisimova Cruises To Birthday Win<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"imgwidth\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01amanda-anisimova.jpg\" alt=\"Amanda Anisimova in action during the all-American match-up against Ashlyn Krueger.\" style=\"max-width:100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>IMAGE: Amanda Anisimova in action during the all-American match-up against Ashlyn Krueger. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton\/Reuters<\/p>\n<p class=\"rbig\">Amanda Anisimova breezed past Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 6-3 in the first round in a strong start for last year&#8217;s runner-up as she looks to challenge for the title again.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Today was my birthday, so maybe that took a little bit of the stress off,&#8221; Anisimova, who turned 25, told reporters after her victory in Flushing Meadows, where the crowd sang her &#8220;Happy Birthday&#8221;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Anisimova fought off three break-points early for a 2-1 lead before running away with the opening set in the all-American matchup at Louis Armstrong Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The players traded breaks to open the second set but Anisimova, the world number 10, never let her grip on the match slip, breaking Krueger&#8217;s serve in the final game to win the match in one hour and 12 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Ashlyn Was Playing Some Great Tennis&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"imgwidth\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01ashlyn-krueger.jpg\" alt=\"Ashlyn Krueger in action during her first round match against Amanda Anisimova.\" style=\"max-width:100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>IMAGE: Ashlyn Krueger in action during her first round match against Amanda Anisimova. Photograph: Geoff Burke\/IMAGN IMAGES\/Reuters<\/p>\n<p class=\"rbig\">&#8220;Ashlyn was playing some great tennis, so I feel like the quality and the level was pretty high today,&#8221; Anisimova said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think everyone is always nervous for the Grand Slam first round because you&#8217;re trying to find your tennis and maybe find your rhythm, because first rounds don&#8217;t always necessarily have the highest quality,&#8221; she added.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I felt great out there today. I thought I played well. So I&#8217;m happy about that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Anisimova will face Austrian Lilli Tagger, who beat Tamara Korpatsch 6-0, 7-6(4) in 1 hour and 56 minutes to earn her first Grand Slam main-draw win, in the second round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, former champion Iga Swiatek\u00a0and Amanda Anisimova cruise into second round of the US Open.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1696,217,11450,271,14616,665,1510,1957,139,2406,463],"class_list":["post-61806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-amanda-anisimova","tag-amanda-anisimova","tag-aryna-sabalenka","tag-camila-osorio","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-colombia","tag-indian-wells","tag-mariano-navone","tag-miami-open","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-roman-safiullin","tag-us-open"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}