Frenchwoman Lois Boisson has provided the first big blow-up of the US Open, smashing her racquet in disgust after going down in three sets to American 26th seed Emma Navarro.
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A semifinalist at the French Open in 2025 and a winner on the WTA Tour, Boisson has had a tough 12 months, with injuries forcing a long lay-off and a comeback that has not yielded many good results.
The 23-year-old has a career-high ranking of 34, which she achieved in February despite not playing a professional match between September 2025 and April.
Since her career-high ranking, Boisson has tumbled to 237th in the world with many early exits from tournaments as she tries to regain the stunning form she showed last year.
But another first round exit at a grand slam, a third consecutive this year, was too much for Boisson to take on the court.
With an attempted backhand slice falling well short, Navarro was handed a 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 6-3 win and Boisson threw her racquet to the ground.
The two met at the net for the handshake, but as Navarro waved to the crowd, Boisson grabbed a second racquet and proceeded to demolish it with three powerful slams on the hard court, followed by another throw.
While Boisson will try to regroup to finish the year on a more positive note, Navarro will either face fellow countrywoman Caty McNally or Anouk Koevermans of the Netherlands.
Sabalenka begins US Open defence, men’s draw blown open with second big exit
Aryna Sabalenka is attempting to win the US Open for a third consecutive year. (Reuters: Imagn Images/Robert Deutsch)
Aryna Sabalenka got off to a winning start in her quest for a third successive US Open title on Monday and men’s 10th seed Arthur Fils exited as the second day of the tournament kicked off after Novak Djokovic’s shock defeat left another major hole in the men’s field.
Sabalenka has been trying to regain her usual dominance after a frustrating stretch, having failed to reach a final since March, and looked well on her way with an easy 6-2, 6-4 win over Colombia’s Camila Osorio.
The world number one launched 32 winners in the first match of the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium to set up a meeting with Russian Polina Iatcenko in the second round.
“I’m happy with my performance. She’s a tough opponent, makes you work really hard to get every point,” Sabalenka said.
“So I’m happy that I was able to close the match in straight sets.”
Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas stunned the Cincinnati winner Fils 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-4 in the early match at Louis Armstrong Stadium, setting up a second-round meeting with South African Lloyd Harris.
Fils’s upset marked the latest surprise exit in the men’s draw after the 24-time major winner Djokovic crashed out the previous evening.
Seven matches were suspended on the outer courts on Sunday night due to rain and resumed on Monday local time, with organisers benefiting from the extended three-day first-round schedule after expanding the main draw to 15 days in 2025.
The Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova got the day underway on the Grandstand with a routine 6-3, 6-0 win over Austrian Sinja Kraus. The Czech seventh seed plays Briton Katie Boulter in the second round.
The Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, who was forced to go through qualifying only two years after reaching the quarterfinals in New York, beat Kristina Liutova 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
American Anisimova cruises to birthday win at US Open
Amanda Anisimova breezed past Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of the US Open in a strong start for last year’s runner-up as she looks to challenge for the title again.
Playing on her 25th birthday, Anisimova fought off three break points early for a 2-1 lead before running away with the opening set in the all-American match-up at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The players traded breaks to open the second set but Anisimova, the world number 10, never let her grip on the match slip, breaking Krueger’s serve in the final game to win the match in one hour and 12 minutes.
“Ashlyn’s a great player so I knew it was going to be a tough match,” Anisimova said in a post-match on-court interview, shortly before the crowd sang Happy Birthday to her.
Anisimova will face Austrian Lilli Tagger in the second round.
ABC/Reuters
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