LEARNING
No.2 seed Sofia Kenin will bid for her first win of the Tour resumption against 2009 semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer - who was the victor in their only previous meeting, triumphing 6-3, 6-3 in the third round of the 2018 Indian Wells 125K event. Wickmayer is aiming for her first career Top 5 win, and first Top 10 win since defeating Maria Kirilenko in the 2013 Eastbourne quarterfinals.
No.3 seed Serena Williams also takes on a countrywoman in her opener, World No.96 Kristie Ahn - who reached the fourth round of a major for the first time here last year. Since 2008, Williams has only lost to a fellow American twice on the Grand Slam stage - to Sloane Stephens in the 2013 Australian Open quarterfinals and to Sofia Kenin in the 2019 Roland Garros third round. The six-time champion's last loss to a compatriot at the US Open was to Venus Williams in the 2005 fourth round. This will be just Ahn's second encounter with a Top 10 player - the first having been on her Grand Slam debut as a 16-year-old qualifier at the 2008 US Open, where she lost 6-3, 6-4 to Dinara Safina in the first round.
No.9 seed Johanna Konta faces compatriot Heather Watson for the fourth time in an all-British derby. Konta is yet to lose a set to Watson, having previously won in the 2013 Barnstaple ITF $75K quarterfinals (via retirement), the 2017 Indian Wells second round and the 2018 Nottingham second round. Konta also has a perfect 5-0 record against fellow Britons at Tour level.
No.15 seed Maria Sakkari, fresh off the Cincinnati quarterfinals, will need to overcome a 0-2 head-to-head against Stefanie Voegele in the first round. The Swiss player won 6-1, 6-1 in the 2016 Taipei 125K second round and 6-3, 6-4 in the 2018 Acapulco second round.
No.18 seed Donna Vekic leads Prague semifinalist Kristyna Pliskova 2-1 overall, including their only prior outdoor hardcourt meeting - a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 epic in the second round of Kuala Lumpur 2014 en route to her maiden title. Since then, Pliskova took an indoor hardcourt meeting in the 2017 Biel second round 6-1, 6-2, and Vekic triumphed 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of Madrid 2019.
No.7 seed Madison Keys has a 3-1 head-to-head lead over former doubles World No.1 Timea Babos. Keys, the 2017 US Open runner-up, won their first meeting in Cincinnati 2012 qualifying 6-3, 6-0 - their only prior hardcourt encounter - as well as two 2016 matches in Rome and Birmingham, both tournaments at which Keys went on to the final. Babos's only victory in the series came at Birmingham 2014, which the Hungarian won 6-2, 6-1.
Head to Head
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Former World No.1 Kim Clijsters, champion here in 2005, 2009 and 2010, plays her first Grand Slam match since losing in the second round of the 2012 US Open to Laura Robson. The unranked Belgian, who lost the first two matches of her second comeback prior to the Tour shutdown to Garbiñe Muguruza and Johanna Konta, faces No.21 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova for the first time.
Americans Taylor Townsend and Sachia Vickery have alternated wins in a rivalry going back to 2013, with each now holding three victories apiece. All of their meetings have taken place in North America, with Townsend leading 2-1 on outdoor hard courts - including a 7-5, 6-2 win in their most recent match, in the second round of last year's Indian Wells 125K event.
No.26 seed and 2017 champion Sloane Stephens has won just one match out of eight in 2020, against No.498-ranked wildcard Emma Navarro in Monterrey, and will bid to kickstart her season against former World No.20 Mihaela Buzarnescu, who has not played since retiring in Tashkent qualifying last September due to various injuries.
Gallery: Mom's the word: Serena, Vika and active WTA mothers
Lexington finalist Jil Teichmann's meetings with Aliona Bolsova have come in pairs. In March 2014, they met in back-to-back junior tournaments in Brazil, splitting a win each. Six years later, they are set to play for the first time since then, in back-to-back tournaments in the New York bubble: Teichmann also won their Western & Southern Open qualifying match 6-2, 6-2 last week.
Former Wimbledon semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova returns to action for the first time following her maternity leave. The 32-year-old Bulgarian last played at Wimbledon 2017, where she defeated Sara Errani before losing to Caroline Wozniacki in the second round, and gave birth to her son Alexander in March 2018. Former World No.31 Pironkova is one of nine mothers in the main draw alongside Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Vera Zvonareva, Kim Clijsters, Olga Govortsova, Patricia Maria Tig, Kateryna Bondarenko and Tatjana Maria, seven of whom are in action today.
TRENDING
Smiling behind the mask 😷 (😁)#USOpen pic.twitter.com/IVS7vBweBv
— Johanna Konta (@JohannaKonta) August 31, 2020
For many reasons, and the best one being that it’s my mum’s birthday today, it feels pretty good to be through to the second round in the bubble 😃
— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) August 31, 2020
Vse nejlepsi, mami 🎉 #USOpen pic.twitter.com/csV5HxlPZG
READING
Find out more ahead of today's first-round Battle of the Brits between Johanna Konta and Heather Watson with this preview in the Guardian.
Victoria Azarenka returns to singles action for the first time since winning the Western & Southern Open. Check out her interview with WTA Insider.
Serena Williams begins her campaign today and ESPN's Peter Bodo takes a look at the task facing ahead in winning a 24th singles Slam.
ORDER OF PLAY
Click here to view Tuesday's order of play.
WATCHING
![[3] Coco Gauff d. [7] Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2), WTA Finals Riyadh F (3:04). Gauff clinched her first WTA Finals title by winning the second-longest final of the year. It was also the longest final at the WTA Finals dating back to 2008.](https://photoresources.wtatennis.com/photo-resources/2024/11/09/4a2a1712-283c-4996-a572-6682f3eeca0c/GettyImages-2183155727.jpg?width=451&height=268)
