Welcome back, Jenson Brooksby! Competing in his first US Open match since 2022, the crafty American—who briefly mystified Novak Djokovic under the lights inside Arthur Ashe in 2021—came through a hard-fought four-hour, five-set battle to defeat world No. 95 and former University of Illinois talent Aleksandar Vukic in front of an ecstatic, partisan crowd on Court 11. Brooksby is no stranger to going the distance on the outer courts of the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center; prior to his duel with Djokovic he sent spectators on Court 17 into hysterics as he came back from two sets down to defeat world No. 21 Aslan Karatsev in the third round. The American will face a tough challenge in Round 2: He next faces 2025 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Flavio Cobolli.
At approximately the same time as Brooksby’s heroics, just across the Fountain Plaza on Court 6, former Stanford star Tristan Boyer dismissed lucky loser James Duckworth in straight sets to reach Round 2 of his home slam for the first time. The world No. 113 now equals his best showing at a Grand Slam, after achieving the same feat at the Australian Open in January.
Boyer and Brooksby were just two of 23 Americans on Day 2 at the 2025 US Open. Here’s a look at how some of them fared.
Two southpaws with big serves walk onto a tennis court…
Before Brooksby ignited the crowd on Court 11, the venue featured an all-American matchup between big-serving lefty and top junior standout Darwin Blanch and…big-serving lefty and former top junior standout Martin Damm. (Even on the stat sheet the pair tended to mirror each other: Both won 86% of their first serve points in the first set.)
Blanch—who earned a wild card into the draw after capturing the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championship for the second consecutive year—could never really make inroads on his (slightly) more experienced opponent’s serve, and the one time he did, electronic line-calling overturned a call on a point that would have given him a break. With his 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win, qualifier Damm—a 2019 French Open and Wimbledon junior boys’ singles semifinalist and the son of 2006 US Open men’s doubles champion Martin Damm, Sr.—records his first-ever victory at a Grand Slam at the pro level. He will face another American in Round 2: last year’s semifinalist Frances Tiafoe. (While Tiafoe was also once a top junior talent, he is not, in fact, a lefty.)
Ann Li, Peyton Stearns and 17-year-old Iva Jovic reach the second round at Flushing Meadows again.
Iva Jovic continues to impress at her home slam. A year after contesting a Round 2 epic against No. 29 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova—pushing the tour veteran to 7-5 in the third set—the California teenager dismissed former world No. 29 Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 7-6, 6-3. Sasnovich was decidedly not at the peak of her powers, committing 48 unforced errors over the course of the encounter. But credit Jovic for hanging tough in important moments: She saved six of eight break points on her own serve and converted four of her seven break opportunities.
Also earning a Round 2 berth: Cincinnati’s Peyton Stearns, who defeated qualifier Darja Semenistaja of Latvia, 7-5, 6-0; and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania’s Ann Li, who came back from a set and a break down to advance over Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia. Stearns previously made a Round of 16 appearance at Flushing Meadows in 2023, while Li last reached the Round 2 back in 2020.
Madison Keys wasn’t the only American making an early exit.
Other members of Team USA took some tough losses. 19-year-old Clervie Ngounoue, who captured the Wimbledon junior girls’ singles title in 2023, claimed a set over world No. 29 Anna Kalinskaya before losing in three. No. 19 seed and two-time US Open quarterfinalist Elise Mertens needed just 65 minutes to dispatch San Diego’s Alyssa Ahn, who earned a wild card into the event after she lifted the championship hardware at the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championship. Spain’s Cristina Bucsa dismissed qualifier Claire Liu, and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina lost just three games in her Round 1 encounter against Californian and world No. 1 junior Julieta Pareja, also a wild-card recipient.
On the men’s side, NYC native Aleksandar Kovacevic lost in straight sets to world No. 173 Coleman Wong. Qualifier Wong previously beat another American, Ben Shelton, earlier this year at the ATP 1000 in Miami. And after capturing the first set against Jan-Lennard Struff, former UCLA great Mackenzie McDonald fell in four.
