WHAT HAPPENED: Julia Goerges, the No. 9 seed, defeated 19-year-old Russian qualifier Anna Kalinskaya in the first round Monday, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2, with a little wobble in the middle just like Goerges's unusual service motion. Kalinskaya begain the match with a curious decision: to receive serve against the WTA Tour leader in aces (by 100!). Sure enough, Goerges fired three to take the opening game, then raced to a 6-2 finish with her trademark down-the-line groundstrokes. Kalinskaya threw in a few dazzlers of her own, showing the sure shotmaking that carried her through qualifying at the Australian Open this year for her first Grand Slam appearance, but she had few opportunities to take control of points.
Then, serving at 1-2 and love-30 in the second set, Kalinskaya was given a code violation for an audible obscenity -- causing fans to wonder if the chair umpire understands Russian. With that out of her system, Kalinskaya loosened up and began hitting her targets. Goerges displayed some beautiful athleticism in lunging for volleys and driving backhands down the line, but tightened up and lost a close tiebreak. By then, the atmosphere around Court 10 had changed dramatically. A quiet, late-afternoon romp turned to a battle under the lights, with fireworks and a Kelly Clarkson concert on nearby Arthur Ashe Stadium during the Opening Night Ceremony. Perhaps the energy helped Goerges raise her level again. She broke for a 3-2 lead and steadied as Kalinskaya self-destructed with too many unforced errors to stay with the German.
WHAT IT MEANS: Goerges passed an early test, which could sharpen her focus. But she also failed to close after leading a set and a break, which can create doubts. Chances are the veteran knows how to take away the positives, namely winning 79 percent of the points on first serve despite making a subpar 54 percent of them. The mid-match wobble should be just a blemish on an otherwise strong 12 months that started here last year, when Goerges made her deepest run at the US Open by making the fourth round. She lost in three sets to eventual champion Sloane Stephens, but a month later, Goerges went on a hard-court tear, winning two tournaments to finish the year and a third to start 2018. By mid-January, she had a 15-match winning streak and was the fashionable darkhorse pick to win the Australian Open. Alas, she lost in the second round to Alizé Cornet, but she revved back up in the summer. She reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon this year, losing to Serena Williams, and made the semifinals at the Connecticut Open last week. Her next match will be more revealing than this one. She plays Ekaterina Makarova, whose ranking of No. 49 belies her reputation as a giant-killer in Grand Slams. Last week, Makarova blew past 2016 US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova at the Connecticut Open, 6-1, 6-3.
MATCH POINT: Is Goerges a darkhorse to win the US Open? And will she lead the tournament in aces?
