Zheng Qinwen rallied from a set down to beat Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Her fellow top 10 cohorts Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejcikova advanced to the second round courtesy of straight set victories.
Ben Shelton brought an end to Dominic Thiem’s Grand Slam career as he sent him packing in the first round.
Frances Tiafoe, Grigor Dimitrov, Andrey Rublev, and Taylor Fritz were some of the other notable names to emerge victorious.
However, not all big names survived the first day in New York.
Holger and I have decided to part ways. This decision was reached mutually, as we believe Holger would benefit from a different approach in his setup right now.
He is an exceptional player with immense potential and a strong character.
It has been a privilege to work with him, and I have no doubt that he will continue to achieve great success in his career. I will remain his biggest supporter.
Rune converted all three break point chances he earned and refused to surrender his own serve despite coming under sustained attack in the second set before closing out a 6-4, 6-2 victory in one hour, 15 minutes in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Draper.
“I said after the first round that I would need to get better to go deep and here I am playing some very, very good tennis,” Rune beamed.
“It’s just about the process and I’ve been working hard from the first match.
