The US Open has only been going on for a day and many top players have already packed their bags. Ana Ivanovic, Karolina Pliskova, Carla Suarez Navarro, Jelena Jankovic, Sloane Stephens, and Svetlana Kuznetsova all bit the dust on Day 1 in New York, massively opening up the top half of the draw for Serena Williams.
Ana Ivanovic was coming off a good summer in which she made the quarterfinals in Toronto and Cincinatti, each time losing to the player that would go on to win the championship. After only a 2nd Round showing at last year's open, she surely was disappointed to get one of the toughest draws of the tournament, Dominika Cibulkova. Cibulkova, the 2014 Australian Open finalist, took the 1st set, but Ivanovic fought back and forced a deciding 3rd set. The fight was not enough for the Serb, however, as Cibulkova held on and took the match 6-3 in the final set.
Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic also had a good summer, winning the US Open Series with a finals appearance in Stanford and a quarterfinal in New Haven. She would've been hoping to back up her Third Round appearance at last year's US Open and prove her #8 seed this year, but she was completely outplayed by American qualifier Anna Tatishvili, who easily won 6-2 6-1. Pliskova's 57% first serve percentage and only winning 40% of all her service points led to her bowing out in the First Round.
The #10 seed Carla Suarez Navarro may be viewed as less of an upset as she had been on a 6-match losing streak and had not won a match on a hard court since her run to the final in Miami, however she should've been favored over Denisa Allertova, ranked 76 in the world, who hadn't played a match on a hard court since April. It appeared as though Allertova was the high ranked veteran, as she was able to break serve four times and hold Suarez Navarro to only 40% points won on second serve, allowing her to garner the 6-1 7-6(5) win.
Jelena Jankovic joined her fellow Serbian Ivanovic in exiting the US Open after only one match, losing to French wild card Oceane Dodin, 2-6 7-5 6-3. What looked like a comfortable victory quickly changed in the 2nd set, as Dodin, 18 years old, broke late in the set and carried that momentum into the 3rd. Dodin has been in good form, making the final of an ITF event only a couple weeks ago, but Jankovic will be massively disappointed with the result.
Sloane Stephens' loss to Coco Vandeweghe is not much of an upset as both young Americans look to have bright careers ahead of them. While Stephens had been in good form, going 17-6 in her last 23 matches, she came up against the huge serve of Vandeweghe, who fired her way into the 2nd Round with a 6-4 6-3 win. Though Vandeweghe didn't face a single break point in this match, expect more great battles from these two in the years to come.
Young Kristina Mladenovic, more known for her doubles prowess, upended the two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3 7-5 on the opening day. The #30 seed had her powerful game stunted by the Frenchwoman, as she was broken 5 times.
While these six seeded women going out in the First Round is a delight to see for Serena Williams, the draw may still be just as tough as it was to begin with. Though Serena won't have to face any Top 10 players until the final, players like Madison Keys, Aga Radwanska, sister Venus Williams, and Belinda Bencic are still alive in the top half, while Coco Vandeweghe may also be able to pose a threat to Serena and her shot at the calendar slam. Vandeweghe's big serve and powerful groundstrokes could be dangerous for Serena if they meet in the Third Round.
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