Kenin outlasts Raducanu in Slam champ clash; Rybakina advances at US Open

Sofia Kenin of the United States prevailed in a closely-contested showdown between Grand Slam champions at the US Open on Tuesday, outlasting Great Britain's Emma Raducanu 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 on the Grandstand.

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In their first meeting, 2020 Australian Open champion Kenin carved past 2021 US Open titlist Raducanu after 2 hours and 11 minutes of back-and-forth play.

Kenin will face her fellow American, No.6 seed Jessica Pegula, in the second round. They have split their four previous meetings but they have not played each other since 2021.

Major matchup: The clash between Kenin and Raducanu was Tuesday's second opening-round match between former Grand Slam champions. Earlier in the day, two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka toppled former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Before Tuesday, the last time two former Grand Slam champions faced off in the first round of the US Open was 2019, when Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova in their opening match.

By the numbers: Kenin's victory over her fellow former Top 10 player Raducanu could help kickstart her season. Coming into the US Open, Kenin's tour-level win-loss record was only 5-15 for the year. She lost nine consecutive matches earlier in 2024.

Raducanu, on the other hand, had been surging this summer, lifting her ranking from No.303 in April to No.72 this week. Raducanu had won 10 of her last 14 matches coming into the US Open, but the Brit could not get past Kenin.

Raducanu famously stormed to the US Open title without the loss of a set three years ago, becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title. Since 2021, though, she has been winless in New York.

In 2022, Raducanu lost to Alizé Cornet in the first round of her title defense, and she missed last year's edition due to injury.

Match moments: Kenin used dazzling drop shots to devastating effect at the start of Tuesday's encounter, squeaking through a number of close games to take the one-set lead.

Raducanu tightened up her game and played a much cleaner second set, where she had eight winners to four unforced errors. Kenin, by contrast, had 16 unforced errors in the second set.

The pendulum swung back in Kenin's favor in the third set, where she used powerful forehands to earn triple break point at 2-2. A Raducanu double fault ceded the break to the American, and Kenin held on from there for the win.

Rybakina moves on: Another Grand Slam champion, No.4 seed Elena Rybakina, also notched a first-round victory on Tuesday, but not without some difficulty. Kazakhstan's Rybakina had to fend off Australian qualifier Destanee Aiava 6-1, 7-6(1) on the Grandstand.

2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina needed 1 hour and 22 minutes to get past Aiava, who was making her US Open main-draw debut, and was also playing in her first tour-level main draw of the season. The 25-year-old Rybakina held on to reach the second round in New York for the fourth time.

Rybakina rolled through a routine first set and led by a break at 4-3 in the second set. However, 194th-ranked Aiava put heavy pressure on the World No.4, as she sought her first Grand Slam main-draw win following four first-round losses at the Australian Open.

The 24-year-old Aiava blasted to three set points at 6-5, and was still in the mix for her second career Top 10 win. Aiava's prior Top 10 win was over Aryna Sabalenka at 2019 's-Hertogenbosch.

But Rybakina found her power game when she needed it most, battling through that game. Proceedings quickly flipped back in her favor as she dominated the decisive tiebreak. This year's ace leader on tour, Rybakina hit 11 in the match to bring her total up to 336 for the season.