US Open 2022: Raducanu, Osaka suffer first-round defeats

There were plenty of exciting matches on the second day of the Grand Slam.

The 2022 US Open is up and running after a heavily entertaining opening day yesterday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. The second day of the year-ending Grand Slam had more sensational fixtures in Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles categories respectively. One of the key fixtures saw Rafael Nadal win in four sets by 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 against Australia’s Rinky Hijikata to advance into the next round.

Over at the Women’s Singles, a major upset saw Emma Raducanu, the reigning US Open winner losing her Round 1 fixture against Alizé Cornet by 6-3, 6-3. The British star’s struggles with her form this year have not ended yet. Furthermore, Naomi Osaka was another big-name elimination in this bracket. The two-time US Open winner lost her opening match to America’s Danielle Collins by a 6-7(5-7), 3-6 score. Despite entering the contest unseeded, she was one of the strong contenders in this bracket on paper.

There was a lot of action to keep track of on the second day of the Grand Slam with plenty of high-profile players taking to the court. Here are the key results from an entertaining Day 2 at the 2022 US Open in New York:

Men’s Singles

Third seed Carlos Alcaraz won his contest against Sebastian Baez comfortably in straight sets. The Spaniard emerged a 7-5, 7-5, 2-0 winner as the Argentine had to withdraw from the game during the third set. Cameron Norries showed no mercy as he went past France’s Benoit Paire in straight sets as well. The seventh-seed British star won by a 6-0, 7-6(7-1), 6-0 score inside merely one hour and 38 minutes.

Croatian veteran Marin Cilic was also in action and easily made his way past Round 1. He was up against Maximilian Marterer of Germany. It took Cilic only two hours and nine minutes to down his opponent by a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 score.

Women’s Singles

Top seed Iga Swiatek was flawless in her performance against Jasmine Paolini of Italy. The Pole won the contest easily by a 6-3, 6-0 score. The fans will be keeping a keen eye on her as she looks sharp and ready to lift the Grand Slam. Unlike her sister who won yesterday, Venus Williams was knocked out in Round 1 by Alison Van Uytvanck. The Belgian player beat the former World No.1 by a 6-1, 7-6(7-5) score.

On a day of many upsets in Women’s Singles, Paula Badosa of Spain avoided a similar feat in her Round 1 contest. The Spaniard was up against Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine and took three sets to win by 3-6, 7-6(7-4), 6-3. However, 16th seed Jelena Ostapenko was not as lucky and had to taste defeat at the hands of Zheng Qinwen. The unseeded Chinese, who is only 19 years old, won by 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to advance into the next round.