Madison Keys beats Alina Korneeva to reach US Open second round

Madison Keys closed out Alina Korneeva 7-5, 6-4 on a rainy afternoon in New York at the US Open to reach the second round. The match came amid a day of weather-related delays that affected many first-round sessions.

The win came in Keys’s 15th US Open appearance; the 31-year-old turned professional on her 14th birthday in February 2009 and is the 2025 Australian Open singles champion. "I was thinking a little bit more about it just because the last couple of days everyone keeps reminding me that it’s my 15th US Open, which doesn’t feel possible because I’m so young," Keys said, laughing. "It’s just I think that in a lot of ways it’s been a huge blessing I started so young, just because I really got to get into it at such a young age and when I didn’t really even understand what was going on, so I was able to just kind of experience it in a really different way. But it’s definitely been, I think, the most interesting, because I feel like as a person I’ve changed a lot throughout the years and kind of just evolved as a person while getting to kind of do the same job."

There were frustrating delays for the majority of players waiting to enter the court for the first-round matches, and Keys benefited from a prime court assignment under the Arthur Ashe Stadium roof that allowed her to complete her match. She closed out Korneeva in straight sets to advance while other players dealt with interruptions.

Last year Keys suffered a first-round defeat in New York against the world No 82 Renata Zarazúa, making this victory a welcome return to form. On the pressures around the start of a major she said: "You can kind of feel [the tension] as the days are getting closer," Keys said. "Everyone gets here, you have a week, everyone is excited to be here, and then as the days are slowly getting closer to first rounds, rackets are maybe getting a little slippery, you can hear more yelling happening, and you can kind of feel the tension. "I think collectively we all just get really anxious. We’re probably feeding off of each other as well, but we all want to do well. It all feels like I think the buildup is always so hard, just because you’re so in it and you’re anticipating the tension that’s going to happen and the anxiety that’s going to happen. So it’s definitely very relevant and very real."

Elena Rybakina moved into the second round with a 6-3, 6-2 win against the 17-year-old American wildcard Thea Frodin. Rybakina had sustained a foot injury at the Cincinnati Open that forced her to retire from her quarter-final against Iga Swiatek, but she appeared comfortable on court in New York.

In the men’s draw fifth seed and French Open finalist Flavio Cobolli recovered from a two-set deficit to defeat Francisco Comesaña 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and advance to the second round.

Keys, Rybakina and Cobolli all progressed to the US Open second round. Rybakina sits at No 1 in the live rankings and will become the world No 1 for the first time in her career if she reaches the semi-finals and if Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff do not win the tournament.