U.S. Open tennis: Carlos Alcaraz, Jessica Pegula advance in first round

Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Men's No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and women's No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 3 Jessica Pegula were among the top players to advance on Day 2 of the 2023 U.S. Open. No. 7 Caroline Garcia was the top player to exit.

No. 3 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, No. 6 Jannik Sinner of Italy and No. 8 Andrey Rublev of Russia were among the other top men's players to advance in the final Grand Slam of the season Tuesday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Forest Hills, N.Y.

"I was really focused," Alcaraz told reporters. "I didn't expect to play at such a great level in the beginning and first round of the U.S. Open. I am very happy with my level. ... I hope to keep that level for the next round."

Alcaraz, the defending champion, was beating No. 75 Dominik Koepfer 6-2, 3-2 before his German foe retired from the match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Spaniard fired four aces, 19 winners and converted 3 of 11 break point opportunities. He logged just six unforced errors, compared to Koepfer's 17.

Alcaraz will face No. 177 Lloyd Harris of South Africa in the second round.

Medvedev beat unranked Attila Balazs 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 in a 74-minute match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Russian edged his Hungarian counterpart 41-12 in winners and 8-0 in aces and converted break point opportunities.

Sinner also won in straight sets, beating No. 54 Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 in a 2-hour, 18-minute match. The Italian converted 6 of 15 break points and totaled 22 unforced errors, compared to 31 for his German foe.

Rublev beat No. 119 Arthur Cazaux of France 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-1 on Court 5. The Russian fired five aces and converted 4 of 9 break point chances in that straight-sets win.

No. 12 Alexander Zverev of Germany, No. 13 Alex de Minaur of Australia, No. 16 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, No. 17 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and No. 20 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria were among the other top men to advance.

No. 11 Karen Khachanov was the highest-ranked men's player upset. No. 89 Michael Mmoh of the United States ousted the Russian in straight sets. Mmoh totaled eight aces and 33 winners and converted 6 of 10 break points in the 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 triumph.

Fellow American Jessica Pegula also moved on with a straight-sets triumph. The No. 3 women's player, and top-ranked American overall, beat No. 52 Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-2, 6-2. Pegula totaled eight aces and converted 4 of 15 break point opportunities in that 82-minute match.

"I knew what I needed to do, but sometimes it depends as well on how you are playing and how she is playing," Pegula said. "But I think I was able to execute what I wanted to do."

The 2022 U.S. Open quarterfinalist will meet No. 700 Patricia Maria Tig of Romania in the second round.

No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus was the highest-ranked women's player to win on Day 2. She needed just 78 minutes to beat No. 112 Maryna Zanevska of Belgium 6-3, 6-2 at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The 2023 Australian Open champion and two-time U.S. Open semifinalist fired nine aces and 27 winners and converted 6 of 7 break point chances.

No. 5 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, No. 9 Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, No. 14 Daria Kasatkina of Russia, No. 15 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia and No. 17 Madison Keys of the United States were the other top women to advance.

No. 59 Peyton Stearns, No. 101 Sofia Kenin, No. 204 Sachia Vickery were the other American women to win on Day 2. American Venus Williams, ranked No. 410, lost in straight sets to No. 97 Greet Minnen of Belgium.

No. 114 Yafan Wang of China scored the biggest singles upset of Day 2, beating No. 7 Caroline Garcia of France in straight sets. Wang broke Garcia's serve four times in that 70-minute match.

Italian Lucia Bronzetti also advanced via upset, ousting No. 12 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6(3) in a first-round match. The No. 76 player in the WTA rankings totaled seven aces and broke Krejcikova's serve five times.

No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 6 Coco Gauff of the United States and No. 10 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic will be among the top women's players in action Wednesday.

No. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, No. 5 Casper Ruud of Norway, No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Americans Taylor Fritz (No. 9), Frances Tiafoe (No. 10) and Tommy Paul (No. 14) will be among the top men's players with second-round matches on Day 3.

U.S Open coverage will air from noon to 7 p.m. on ESPN and from 7 to 11 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN2.

U.S. Open schedule

All times EDT

Thursday

Second round from noon to 6 p.m. on ESPN; 6 to 11 p.m. on ESPN2

Friday

Third round from noon to 6 p.m. on ESPN; 6 to 11 on ESPN2

Saturday

Third round from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on ESPN2

Sunday

Round of 16 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on ESPN; 3 to 6 p.m. on ABC; 6 to 11 p.m. on ESPN2

Sunday

Round of 16 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on ESPN; 7 to 11 p.m. on ESPN2

Monday

Mens and women's quarterfinals from noon to 11 p.m. on ESPN

Tuesday

Mens and women's quarterfinals from noon to 11 p.m. on ESPN

Sept. 7

Women's semifinals from 7 to 11 p.m. on ESPN

Sept. 8

Men's semifinals from 3 to 6 p.m. and 7 to 10 p.m. on ESPN

Sept. 9

Women's final at 4 p.m. on ESPN

Sept. 10

Men's final at 4 p.m. on ESPN