US Open Tennis 2015 Results: Early Monday Results, Highlights and Scores Recap
The 2015 U.S. Open started on Monday, and already several shocking developments have emerged from the early matches at Flushing Meadows in New York City.
Men's fourth seed Kei Nishikori, who ran all the way to last year's final before losing to Marin Cilic, fell victim to a massive upset at the hands of Benoit Paire in five sets by a score of 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4.
Two former women's world No. 1 players bowed out as well. U.S. Open seventh seed Ana Ivanovic was another surprising big name to lose in the opening round at the season's final major.
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Ivanovic fell in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to Dominika Cibulkova—one of the three top-10 seeds to lose in this year's first round. Jelena Jankovic was the other past top-ranked woman to fall. She was eliminated by teenager Oceane Dodin.
Check out what's transpired in the rest of the seeded matches thus far in the table below, along with a more detailed recap of Monday's first-round action at the Grand Slam finale. For complete scores, visit USOpen.org.
| Benoit Paire def. No. 4 Kei Nishikori | 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 |
| No. 10 Milos Raonic def. Tim Smyczek | 6-4, 7-6 (8), 6-1 |
| No. 14 David Goffin def. Simone Bolelli | 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 |
| No. 17 Grigor Dimitrov def. Matthew Ebden | 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 |
| No. 18 Feliciano Lopez def. Nikoloz Basilashvili | 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-3 |
| No. 19 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Jarkko Nieminen | 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 |
| No. 25 Andreas Seppi def. Tommy Paul | 6-4, 6-0, 7-5 |
| Dominika Cibulkova def. No. 7 Ana Ivanovic | 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 |
| Anna Tatishvili def. No. 8 Karolina Pliskova | 6-2, 6-1 |
| Denisa Allertova def. No. 10 Carla Suarez Navarro | 6-1, 7-5 (5) |
| No. 13 Ekaterina Makarova def. Teliana Pereira | 6-3, 6-3 |
| No. 15 Agnieszka Radwanska def. Katerina Siniakova | 6-2, 6-3 |
| No. 17 Elina Svitolina def. Elizaveta Kulichkova | 6-1, 6-4 |
| Oceane Dodin def. No. 21 Jelena Jankovic | 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 |
| No. 23 Venus Williams def. Monica Puig | 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3 |
| Kristina Mladenovic def. No. 30 Svetlana Kuznetsova | 6-3, 7-5 |
Monday Recap
Nishikori really does have a stellar game that translates to all courts, but Paire blitzed him on Monday with a bevy of blistering groundstrokes that Nishikori wasn't quite prepared for.
Taking matters into his own hands, Paire slugged 64 winners to 67 unforced errors in a relentless style of tennis. What gave him the edge in the end was a big advantage on serve. Even against a fit player in Nishikori, the Frenchman smashed 21 aces and approached the net 46 times to Nishikori's 29.
ESPN Stats and Info highlighted just how extraordinary Nishikori's loss was, as he failed to capitalize on two match points up 6-4 in the fourth-set tiebreaker:
After the match, Nishikori spoke about the key sequence that gave Paire new life and ultimately swung the momentum, per the ATP World Tour website:
"I had match point and I kind of lost a little bit my forehand. Tie-breaks can go both ways so maybe I lost a little bit of concentration, but he was hitting good serves, too. Especially in the first couple of games in the fifth set I lost my concentration and he returned well, too. Credit for him, too, playing good tennis with these conditions.
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The numerous mistakes Paire made were outweighed by the brilliance he flashed and resilience he showed in the fourth set's extended time. Paire's best ratio of winners to errors came in the last set, when he was on the plus side of the 16-9 margin to close out the match.
No other seeded players in the men's draw who were playing during the very start of the tournament dropped a single set. Notable among the victors were 17th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov and No. 19 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Both supremely talented players could use a positive U.S. Open performance. The New York Times' Ben Rothenberg highlights how the draw breaks in their favor to a degree:
Dimitrov took care of business with ease en route to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 romp over Matthew Ebden, hitting 71 percent of first serves in play to set the tone.
Off of three ATP singles titles from last season, Dimitrov has struggled to deal with the success this year. He parted ways with his coach in July and lost his most recent match to Andy Murray in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters. Perhaps Monday's win will spring Dimitrov into a fruitful U.S. Open run.
The Tennis Island's Jeff Donaldson is eager to see a potential Dimitrov-Tsonga showdown in the quarterfinals:
Tsonga fell to Steve Johnson in Winston-Salem but didn't appear to be showing any affects of a figurative hangover in Monday's match. The four-time Grand Slam semifinalist surrendered only five total games to Jarkko Nieminen.
As for the women's draw, Ivanovic is the obvious big story to emerge from Day 1. Although the U.S. Open is the only major in which she hasn't advanced past the quarterfinals, more had to be expected than an immediate exit.
To Ivanovic's credit, she trailed 3-1 in the second before ripping off five consecutive games to force a decider. Unfortunately, the head of steam didn't carry over into the final set.
Infostrada Sports had a relevant graphic with regard to Ivanovic's major event struggles of late:
But as was mentioned in the introduction, Ivanovic was not the lone victim amid a miraculous Monday of sorts for Serena Williams. Before she even took the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, her U.S. Open outlook improved in a drastic way.
Williams is in pursuit of the calendar-year Grand Slam, and her portion of the draw became considerably easier after one single day, per US Open Tennis:
Denisa Allertova won 57 percent of her second-serve points against Carla Suarez Navarro, who took a mere 40 percent of such rallies in her service games. Allertova roared to a 6-1 start before holding on 7-5 in a clinching tiebreaker.
Poor second-serve form also contributed to Karolina Pliskova's downfall. Against American Anna Tatishvili, Pliskova lost 15 of 18 points on her second serve and won three games for the entire match.
Rothenberg referenced how Pliskova's stellar season hasn't translated to the most important tournaments:
It was already a given that Williams was the prohibitive favorite to take the women's title as the three-time reigning champion. Now the notion is all the more fortified, particularly since Maria Sharapova, who would've been in Williams' quadrant of the bracket, withdrew with a knee injury, per CNN.com.
There's a strong chance she'll be fresh and all but unchallenged through the quarterfinals. What a frightening thought that has to be for the women's elite trying to give Williams a real match deep in the tournament.
Williams' journey to further legendary glory kicks off Monday evening with a showdown against Vitalia Diatchenko. For all the difficulties the top women's seeds have had to start this U.S. Open, it's rather safe to infer Williams won't have reminiscent issues.
Note: Stats courtesy of USOpen.org.
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