What’s a Grand Slam tournament without an upset? Maybe just a little less interesting. Here are the big shocks that upended the draw and kept fans on their toes over the course of the fortnight.
Alexandra Eala d. [14] Clara Tauson, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(11) (Round 1)
Sometimes you can feel the momentum shift in the air. On the first day of play in Grandstand, you could hear it, as world No. 75 Eala harnessed the energy of a highly-partisan, electrified crowd to erase a 1-5 deficit in the third and emerge victorious over Tauson in a third-set tiebreak. The Dane came to New York one of the most in-form players of the summer, having defeated Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek en route to a semifinal appearance at the WTA 1000 event in Toronto earlier in August. With this win, Eala recorded her fourth triumph over a Top-20 player on the season and became the first player representing the Philippines to win a main-draw match at the US Open.
Renata Zarazua d. [6] Madison Keys, 6-7(10), 7-6(3), 7-5 (Round 1)
Keys arrived in Flushing Meadows as the most recent woman to capture a hard-court Slam—at the Australian Open in January—and she seemed poised to channel the confidence gained from that big win into another deep run in New York. But on a Monday afternoon inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, world No. 82 Zarazua—who, prior to this match, had lost all of her six previous encounters with Top-10 players—fought back from a set and a break down, as the 2017 finalist couldn’t seem to find the range on her propulsive shots, producing 89 unforced errors and 14 double faults over the course of the contest. In the end, Keys couldn’t hold her serve, or her nerve, to survive and advance. “I feel like today, for the first time in a while, my nerves really got the better of me, and it kind of became a little bit paralyzing,” she said after the defeat.
Benjamin Bonzi d. [13] Daniil Medvedev, 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(5), 0-6, 6-4 (Round 1)
This match: If you know, you know. Just as he did at Wimbledon two months prior, the Frenchman and world No. 51 dismissed the 2021 US Open champion in the first round. But not before Medvedev unraveled over a chair umpire call on match point in the third and encouraged the crowd to rain down boos upon the court inside Louis Armstrong Stadium, which subsequently delayed play for six minutes. (Along the way, Medvedev also tried to launch the catchphrase, “What did Reilly Opelka say?”—which, who knows, maybe will show up on a t-shirt some day.) All credit goes to Bonzi for quieting the noise and ultimately getting the job done in five. For the former world No. 1, it’s back to the drawing board; after advancing no further than the second round at any major this year, he announced a split with his longtime coach Gilles Cervara.
Raphael Collignon d. [12] Casper Ruud, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 (Round 2)
2022 US Open runner-up and world No. 12 Ruud had reached three Grand Slam finals. World No. 107 Collignon of Belgium was contesting his third-ever Grand Slam match. Inside Stadium 17, the numbers didn’t matter on the day, as the lower-ranked player forced a fifth set and hung tough from the back of the court down the stretch to notch the biggest win of his career.
Taylor Townsend d. [25) Jelena Ostapenko, 7-5, 6-1 (Round 2)
Taylor Townsend d. [5] Mirra Andreeva, 7-5, 6-2 (Round 3)
Flames adorning her tennis dress, Townsend ignited during the 2025 US Open, bringing main-character energy to the court, as she came back from breaks down in the first set of both these contests against seeded players to comfortably win in two. Even after a heartbreaking loss in the Round of 16—where Barbora Krejcikova saved eight match points to end her singles campaign—the American refused to cower or fade into the background; rather, she accepted the moment and let it fuel her for doubles the next day. “I told myself to come out like a beast today, even though yesterday was tough,” Townsend said to the Grandstand night crowd after her Round-of-16 doubles win, explaining why this time she traded her “flames” tennis dress for a new one with orcas—the apex predator of the ocean. “I wanted to come out and be the one to eat it up today. I wanted to be all over the net. I wanted to be the predator, and that’s the mindset I was telling myself.”
Jan-Lennard Struff d. [11] Holger Rune, 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 (Round 2)
Jan-Lennard Struff d. [17] Frances Tiafoe, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7) (Round 3)
Don’t sweat the small stuff, but definitely sweat the big Struff. The hard-hitting, 6-foot-4 German—who has been ranked as high as world No. 21 but needed to play qualifying to earn a spot in the US Open main draw—knows his way around an upset, having notched victories over Top-10 players Stan Wawrinka, Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and more throughout the course of his career. In the end, the 35-year-old’s blistering firepower proved too tough for former world No. 4 Rune and two-time US Open semifinalist Tiafoe, who lost minutes after compatriot Ben Shelton retired with a shoulder injury from his own third-round bout.
[25] Felix Auger-Aliassime d. [3] Alexander Zverev, 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-4 (Round 3)
The last time Zverev lost before the second week in Flushing Meadows? 2018, when the world No. 3 was just 21 years old. But all credit goes to Auger-Aliassime, who, after getting routined in the first set, took the match into his own hands and suddenly summoned the form that propelled him to a US Open semifinal in 2021, dispatching his punishing forehand with pinpoint accuracy. Indeed, Zverev still leads their head-to-head, 6-3, but he has still never beaten the Canadian on the biggest stages; two of Auger-Aliassime’s three wins against the 2020 US Open finalist have come at the Grand Slams.
[23] Naomi Osaka d. [3] Coco Gauff, 6-3, 6-2 (Round 3)
Calling this result an upset is highly debatable, as Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion (twice in Flushing Meadows) who hadn’t lost a Round-of-16 match at a major since the Australian Open in 2018. Still, fans were no doubt hoping Gauff would once again conjure some magic on the hard courts in New York, especially after her come-from-behind heroics against Aryna Sabalenka in the French Open final earlier this year. Instead, Osaka waved her racquet and produced some wizardry of her own, winning 94% of her first-serve points against one of the best returners on tour.
[8] Amanda Anisimova d. [2] Iga Swiatek, 6-4, 6-3 (Quarterfinals)
The last time Anisimova faced Swiatek—in the Wimbledon final just two months prior—the American lost all 12 games they played, a devastating 6-0, 6-0 loss. And just as their quarterfinal contest got underway inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, Anisimova lost a 13th, with the Pole immediately breaking to take a 1-0 lead. But nobody takes 14 games in a row from Amanda Anisimova. The world No. 9 immediately broke back, then began to play the incendiary tennis that can make any opponent—including a six-time Grand Slam champion—scramble. Given her recent form, Swiatek looked to be a top contender in New York. Instead, she lost before the semifinals of a major for the first time in 2025.
