As the tennis world is awaiting the clash between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in the night session, packed Day 1 at the US Open saw the 2016 champion Angelique Kerber wave goodbye to the crowd, while world No.2 Ashleigh Barty fought through on the busy Monday despite a very low first-serve percentage.
Playing Kazakhstan’s world No.80 Zarina Diyas, Barty squeezed into the second round even though just 43% of her first serves got in. The 23-year-old reigning French Open champion lost the first set in less than half an hour, but from 3-3 in the second set, she won nine of the last 11 games to survive 1-6 6-3 6-2.