By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Americans Madison Keys and Taylor Fritz cruised through their first round matches at the U.S. Open, while Italian fifth seed Flavio Cobolli came back from two sets down on Tuesday as rain delayed the outdoor action by nearly four hours.
Keys, runner-up in 2017, was undone by debilitating nerves in the first round a year ago but found the right formula this time around in the first match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, beating Russian teen Alina Korneeva 7-5 6-4 under a closed roof.
She fired off 21 winners to just seven from her opponent and will next play either Czech Lucie Havlickova or Hungarian Anna Bondar.
“It’s so hard to play the first round of a Grand Slam. So nervous and wanting to do well,” said Keys. “So grateful I was able to fight through that.”
Ninth seed Fritz had an easy time in the second match of the day at the showpiece stadium, rolling past 18-year-old compatriot Darwin Blanch 6-3 6-2 6-4.
The 2024 finalist had an up-and-down run-up to the year’s final major, winning in D.C. before losing his opening match in Montreal last month but was back to his usual tricks on Tuesday, as he fired off 14 aces.
Over at Louis Armstrong Stadium, fifth seed Cobolli survived a gritty encounter with Argentine Francisco Comesana 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.
RAIN FORCES OUTDOOR PLAY DELAY
Thousands of poncho-wearing ticketholders wandered around the grounds earlier in the day, as rain delayed the start of the action on the outer courts.
Among the hot tickets was American teenager Thea Frodin, who served as the tennis-playing double for a young Serena Williams in the 2021 film “King Richard.”
Frodin got started on the Grandstand against the second seed Elena Rybakina nearly four hours after they had been due to start at 11:00 am ET.
Australian sixth seed Alex de Minaur was slated to close out the programme on Grandstand against Italian qualifier Andrea Guerrieri.
Later on Tuesday, 2023 champion Coco Gauff can expect a hero’s welcome on Ashe, where she will play Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, before men’s top seed Alexander Zverev faces Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
On Armstrong, French wildcard Gael Monfils starts his final Flushing campaign against Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, while the Filipino sensation Alex Eala closes out the night session against U.S. qualifier Mary Stoiana.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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