Tuesday was equal parts dominance and drama at the 2021 US Open, with world No. 1s Novak Djokovic and Ashleigh Barty following a trend of seeded success on the stadium courts. But it was more complicated on the busy field courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where No. 9 seed Pablo Carreno Busta became the highest-profile exit of Round 1 after losing a fifth-set tiebreak to American qualifier Maxime Cressy.
Here's how it all happened on Day 2.
Djokovic drops a set: The headline says more about 18-year-old qualifier Holger Rune than the Serb, who was never truly in danger of defeat. While Djokovic began the fourth leg of his chase for the Grand Slam, Rune started the first leg of his Grand Slam career with his major debut. The challenger earned an army of fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium as he won the second set in a tiebreak, but Djokovic breezed through the other three stanzas, taking sets three and four with ease as his opponent struggled with cramps. Final score: 6-1, 6-7, 6-2, 6-1.
The crowd was heavily invested in this one, particularly in the second set, as they willed Rune to parity. But by the end they were cheering the familiar champion, with Djokovic back in front of the New York fans for the first time since he retired against Stan Wawrinka in the 2019 fourth round.
"It's the largest stadium in sport," the Serb said of Ashe. "Definitely the loudest and the most entertaining stadium we have in our sport... Obviously you always wish to have crowd behind you, but it's not always possible."
Perfect passage for stadium seeds: The big names played big across Ashe, Louis Armstrong Stadium, and the Grandstand. The first nine matches on those three stages finished in straight sets, all in favor of the favorites. On the women's side, Barty, Karolina Pliskova, Iga Swiatek, Petra Kvitova, Belinda Bencic and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova all sailed through, with only the Aussie Barty pushed as far as a tiebreak. The reigning Wimbledon champ prevented any further drama by sealing a 6-1, 7-6 win over Vera Zvonareva, taking the breaker, 9-7.
Across two days of opening-round play, all of the women's Top 20 seeds advanced.
Watch: Barty vs. Zvonareva
On the men's side, Alexander Zverev, Denis Shapovalov and Matteo Berrettini all advanced, with Italy's Berrettini made to work hardest for a 7-6, 7-6, 6-3 result over France's Jeremy Chardy.
But it was a different story in the nightcaps. The 14th-seeded Alex de Minaur was beaten for the first time in five professional meetings with American Taylor Fritz, while 2019 champion and No. 6 seed Bianca Andreescu survived both Viktorija Golubic and a bout of nausea to push through, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.
Four fifth-set tiebreaks: We love a fifth-set tiebreak at the US Open. That's how the 2020 men's final was decided, between Zverev and champion Dominic Thiem, and it's how four first-round matches were settled on Tuesday.
Former UCLA star Maxime Cressy bounced Carreno Busta by taking 9-7 breaker to seal a comeback from two sets down. The 24-year-old American qualifier saved three match points against the Olympic bronze medalist to reach Round 2 in New York for the second year running.
No. 28 seed Fabio Fognini met the same fate as the Spaniard, with Vasek Pospisil also coming back from two sets down to win in a fifth-set tiebreak. The longest decisive tiebreak saw Andreas Seppi edge Marton Fucsovics, 15-13, while Australia's Jordan Thompson outlasted Gianluca Mager in a 7-3 finisher.
American history: Fourteen Americans advanced on Tuesday, led by seeds Reilly Opelka and Jessica Pegula, who both won in straights on Court 17. Youngsters Zachary Svajda and Jenson Brooksby joined them in the win column, as did wild card Jack Sock.
Fritz's midnight victory in Armstrong made it a lucky 13 American men in Round 2, the most since 15 in 1994.
Tweet of the Day: Great Britain's Emma Raducanu was victorious in her US Open main-draw debut, getting past Stefanie Voegele, 6-2, 6-3. The 18-year-old was slated to face Jennifer Brady until the Aussie Open finalist withdrew on Monday with a left-thigh issue.
Quote of the Day: “Every single opponent comes with different challenges, without a doubt. Some are big ball strikers, some move better, some change pace, have variety. There are multitudes of different ways you can hit a tennis ball. I think that’s what the beauty of our sport is; there is no two players the same. In each and every match you have to adapt and have to be able to tactically change and execute in a different way.” — Ashleigh Barty, following her win over 2010 US Open finalist Zvonareva.
As it Happened: Relive Day 2 with our blog, Live at the Open.
Photo of the Day: Holger Rune had the Ashe crowd firmly behind him as he attempted to pull of an upset for the ages against Djokovic.
