Wild card Katrina Scott made quite a Grand Slam debut on Day 2 of the 2020 US Open. Just 16, the California native defeated former world No. 54 Natalia Vikhlyantseva in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2. Scott—who was a part of the American team that won Junior Fed Cup in 2019 and won a match as a wild card in qualifying at the US Open last year—will next face Amanda Anisimova in an all-American, all-teenager second round match. Anisimova, incidentally, celebrated her 19th birthday on Day 1 of the US Open. A day later she celebrated a well-fought, first-round victory over Bulgaria’s Victoriya Tomova, 7-5, 7-5.
Cincinnati’s J.J. Wolf, also making his Grand Slam main-draw debut, defeated No. 29 seed Guido Pella. Wolf, a former NCAA standout for the Ohio State Buckeyes, won two ATP Challenger titles earlier in 2020, and is now thriving in the the New York spotlight.
Other Americans were in a hurry. Reigning Australian Open champion and No. 2 seed Sofia Kenin needed just 68 minutes to overcome 2009 US Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer, 6-2, 6-2. And 2017 finalist and No. 7 seed Madison Keys wrapped up her 6-1, 6-1 victory over Hungary’s Timea Babos in just under an hour. The aggressive-minded Keys hit 19 winners and won all of her points when she came into the net.
2017 champion Sloane Stephens also kicked her Open off on a high note with a 6-3 6-3 win over Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu. Stephens, who dropped out in the first round last year, could potentially meet Serena Williams in the third round.
Williams eased past American Kristie Ahn, 7-5 6-3, to notch her 102nd career win at the US Open. The six-time champion draws Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan next.
Venus Williams was not so fortunate. The American saw her streak of 21 consecutive first-round wins at the Open snapped by Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, 6-3 7-5.
Earlier in the day, world No. 185 Ernesto Escobedo entered the men’s singles draw when Marcel Granollers withdrew to focus on doubles. Mere hours later, the California native promptly won his first-round match against Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak, 7-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Other American men didn’t fare as well. Mackenzie McDonald, still making his way back from surgery on a hamstring tendon, took the first two sets against No. 30 seed Casper Ruud, then fell in five, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Denis Kudla, who advanced to the third round in 2019—his best-ever result in Flushing Meadows—also took a two-set lead, over No. 31 seed and 2014 champion Marin Cilic, before losing 6-7, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3 World No. 45 Sam Querrey, a 2017 quarterfinalist, lost to Andrey Kuznetsov in three sets, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2, while India’s Sumit Nagal won his first main-draw Grand Slam match taking out former Stanford University player Bradley Klahn in four sets, 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
But Frances Tiafoe picked up some of the slack with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 over veteran Andreas Seppi of Italy. The 22-year-old will bid to reach the third round in New York for the first time when he meets Aussie John Millman in round 2.
In total, 10 American man have made it safely into Round 2.
Elsewhere on the women’s side, Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo took out Californian and 2017 Wimbledon girls’ singles champion Claire Liu, 6-2, 6-4; Romania’s Sorana Cirstea overcame Christina McHale, 6-4, 7-5; Olga Govortsova of Belarus cruised past Asia Muhammad, 6-1, 6-2; and France’s Alize Cornet beat Lauren Davis in three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 6-0.18-year-old Caty McNally pushed into the second round for the second straight year with a 6-4 6-1 victory over Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia, while wild card Sachia Vickery knocked off Taylor Townsend, 6-2 6-4. Bernarda Pera also advanced, making it 16 Americans into the second round on the women’s side, with a 7-6, 6-0 win over Zarina Diyas.
