Key events
There have been wins elsewhere for Leylah Fernandez – runner-up in 2021 to Raducanu – and Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion who is currently ranked 60 in the world.
Aryna Sabalenka (1) beats Rebeka Masarova 7-5, 6-1
Sabalenka trails 15-30 before Masarova goes long twice: match point. A serve down the middle sets her up and Masarova finds the net, the world No 1 completing a straight-sets win. The first set was tight, the second not at all.
Sabalenka launches a run to the net but she hasn’t gone wide enough with her forehand, with Masarova given plenty of space to launch a winner. She nails it and holds her serve for the first time in the set. Sabalenka leads 7-5, 5-1.
I’ve blinked and Sabalenka is already 40-0 up. She takes the game moments later and has won 23 points in the set compared to Masarova’s eight. Sabalenka is up 7-5, 5-0 and it should be all over in the next few minutes.
Masarova is waning in confidence. Sabalenka has two break points … and Masarova serves up her fifth double fault of the match. Sabalenka is now up 7-5, 4-0.
Masarova can’t believe it. She’s got complete control of the rally as she advances to the net but Sabalenka fights and fights and takes the point and game. She leads 7-5, 3-0. Sabalenka is, of course, the defending champion and is searching for her fourth slam, all three of her triumphs coming on hard courts.
Sabalenka goes all wrong with a forehand return, the ball flying high and long. But she gets herself to 30-all and then to deuce, advancing to the net, where she’s won 10 out of 11 points. Masarova’s double-fault provides Sabalenka a break point, and another double-fault gives her the game. Sabalenka leads 7-5, 2-0, and she has complete control now.
Here’s a twist: after that roaring end to the first set, Sabalanka provides Masarova three break points. The world No 1 gets out the winners to save them and is up to the net for a forehand volley to claim advantage. Masarova miscues a forehand and crisis is averted. Sabalenka leads 7-5, 1-0.
Is this where Sabalenka turns it on, leading 6-5 with Masarova on serve? They’re 30-all when Sabalenka blasts a forehand well out of Masarova’s reach, setting up set point. And she claims it with a stunning rally: Masarova smashes at the net but Sabalenka holds her position on the baseline to keep it alive with a backhand and turn it her way. No need for a tie-break; Sabalenka takes the first set 7-5.
Sabalenka double-faults but roars back with her power to win a lengthy rally and make it 30-all. She races through from there to lead 6-5 in the first set.
Masarova goes down the line with a forehand to go 15-0 up and has been far more effective in getting her first serve in than Sabalenka – the Swiss player holds to make it 5-5.
Masarova holds her serve to make it 4-4 against Sabalenka, who wallops a backhand to go 40-0 up before a deep forehand winner secures the game. Sabalenka leads 5-4 in the first set.
Emma Raducanu will next face Indonesia’s Janice Tjen, who has staged an upset, beating the 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova. It’s Tjen’s first appearance in a slam main draw and she’s got herself a match with a former champion.
Sabalenka has control once again, as is the way of a world No 1, skipping to 40-0, and holding on after a misplaced forehand from Masarova. Sabalenka leads 4-3 in the first set.
Sabalenka takes the first two points of the game, the second arriving after a 14-shot rally. Masarova bounces back with a wide serve that opens up the chance for a forehand winner, one she takes. But Sabalenka has two chances to break and she doesn’t have to do much … Masarova double-faults and we’re even again. It’s 3-3 in the first set.
Back to Sabalenka’s contest with Masarova, who has two break points … and Sabalenka goes long! Masarova, who has never reached the third round of a slam, leads 3-2 in the first set.
Taylor Fritz (4) beats Emilio Nava 7-5, 6-2, 6-3
There was a touch of tension in the first set but Taylor Fritz is up and running as he tries to go one step further than last year.
A little wobble for Sabalenka as a mid-game double fault is followed by an errant forehand to give Masarova a break point. The Belarussian cannot find a first serve, but gets lucky when Masarova goes long. A smart move into the net brings Masarova another break point but Sabalenka finally finds a big first serve to shut that down and comes through to hold. Sabalenka leads 2-1.
The good news for you lot is that Taha is back from a spot of dinner and will see this blog through to its conclusion.
Masarova looks well set at 40-15 but a few heavy blows from Sabalenka later and it’s break point. That’s blink and you miss it tennis. Sabalenka gets overly aggressive and Masarova holds her nerve to serve it out. That will give the Swiss a bit of confidence, 1-1.
No messing from the defending champion. She holds with relative ease, concluding the game with a powerful forehand into the ad court that Rebeka Masarova can only return into the net. Sabalenka 1-0.
After a lenghty coin toss, Sabalenka is going to serve first. The warmups are done, action soon.
Around the courts, the 32 seed in the men’s draw, Luciano Darderi of Italy, is on track for victory against Australia’s Rinky Hijikata. The Italian leads 6-2, 6-1, 4-2. Tjen has broken Kudermetova to lead 2-0 in the third. Tauson has broken Eala in the first game of the second set and Fritz, who has a two-set lead, is 3-1 up in the third.
On Grandstand, the 14th seed in the women’s singles, Clara Tauson, has lost the first set 4-6 to Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, a rising star who is ranked 75th in the world.
Taylor Fritz is well in control on Louis Armstrong. The fourth seed has won the second set 6-2.
Veronika Kudermetova, the 24th seed, and Emma Raducanu’s potential second round opponent has lost the first set of her match against qualifier Janice Tjen. Kudermetova has just taken the second 6-4.
Ben Shelton gets big applause from the crowd when he says Ashe is the best court at the best tournament in tennis. It’s a nice line but let’s be real, I’ve been to Queens and SW19 it is not. Nice of him to salute his girlfriend, USWNT star Trinity Rodman, who he says flew in on a red-eye to watch him though. They have all the makings of an US sports power couple.
Blake Shelton (6) beats Ignacio Buse 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
The American wastes little time closing this out on his own serve. Credit to Buse, who scrapped for every point until the last, but as he dumps a forehand into the net that is it.
Up next on Ashe is Aryana Sabalenka. She is sporting an incredible silver jacket that looks very 2001: A Space Odyssey or like something you’d be given after finishing a marathon. I dig it.
On Louis Armstrong, Fritz has broken Nava in the second set. He leads 4-1.
Buse serves up a double fault at the worst time, which gives Shelton two match points. He saves both of them, the second with an excellent swinging serve away from his opponent’s backhand. Shelton is swinging hard though and just when it looks like Buse has saved his hold the American fires an outrageous, piercing forehand to get us back deuce. Admirable stuff from Buse as he faces down another match point before eventually going on to hold. Shelton leads 5-4.
In the all-American battle on Louis Armstrong, we are on serve in the second with Fritz leading Nava 2-1.
Shelton smacks his way to another hold. Buse has to hold but he’s now veyr much staring at the end of his tournament. Shelton leads 5-3 in the third set.
Hello all, it’s trending up for the ole U-S-A. With Fritz taking the first set Shelton has roared out to a 4-2 lead in the third. Buse holds this time, but he is a break and two sets down.
Time for me to nab a break, with Tom Bassam filling in.
Nava has Fritz chasing corners before a delicate backhand at the net gives the server the opening point of the game. Nava gives Fritz’s backhand defence a proper test to win the point and make it 30-all, and the 23-year-old is up to the net again to make it 40-30. But Fritz times his moment, getting himself to deuce and then set point, and Nava delivers a backhand way off the mark. Fritz takes the first set 7-5.
Things are getting interesting with Taylor Fritz and Emilio Nava, the all-American contest – they’re 5-5 in the first set. Fritz, runner-up here last year and searching for that first slam, finds himself 40-30 up after a 130mph serve. Nava responds with a whippy forehand winner while hopping backwards on the baseline. Fritz bounces back with an ace and holds on. It’s a tight one, this. Fritz leads 6-5 in the first set.
Back to Shelton v Buse, who took the first game of the third set. Shelton holds his serve, too. He has 27 winners compared to Buse’s 10, his strength guiding him as he leads 6-3, 6-2, 1-1.
Sky are saying that was Emma Raducanu’s fastest win at a grand slam (1 hour and two minutes). Neat. Jakub Mensik, the 16th seed in the men’s singles, has beaten Nicolas Jarry in straight sets. Tereza Valentova, an 18-year-old qualifier in the women’s singles, was pretty emotional after getting past Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Shelton’s rocket first serve forces Buse to stand behind the baseline in another postcode. The left-hander gets himself to set point and needs just one shot at it, his second serve down the middle still too hot for Buse. Shelton leads 6-3, 6-2.
Shelton has a chance to break but Buse delivers a gorgeous backhand half-volley to keep himself in the game. The sixth seed hits a delicious forehand around the net to take advantage after five deuces, and he finally breaks after the sixth, a forehand winner extending Shelton’s lead to 6-3, 5-2. He’ll serve for the second set.
Shelton leaps high to smash away – he’s won 16 of 18 net points. Then comes his work from deep, a forehand leaving Buse wrong-footed behind the baseline before Shelton makes it 6-3, 4-2.
