US Open Tennis 2020 Results: Winners, Scores, Stats from Monday Singles Bracket
August 31, 2020
No Roger Federer. No Rafael Nadal. No Ashleigh Barty, Simona Halep and Bianca Andreescu, among other top women. Oh, and no fans.
The U.S. Open has a different feel this year.
But plenty more are in New York, as play at the famous Grand Slam tournament began on Monday. Below, we'll break down the day's scores from the top players in action (the full results can be found here) and the storylines that developed.
Top Men's Results
No. 1 Novak Djokovic def. Damir Dzumhur, 6-1, 6-4, 6-1
No. 4 Stefano Tsitsipas def. Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 Alexander Zverev def. Kevin Anderson, 7-6, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
Cameron Norrie def. No. 9 Diego Schwartzman, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5
No. 12 Denis Shapovalov def. Sebastian Korda, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 27 Borna Coric def. Pablo Andujar, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1
Top Women's Results
No. 1 Karolina Pliskova def. Anhelina Kalinina, 6-4, 6-0
No. 4 Naomi Osaka def. Misaki Doi, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
No. 6 Petra Kvitova def. Irina-Camelia Kalinina, 6-3, 6-2
No. 13 Alison Riske def. Tatjana Maria, 6-3, 6-2
No. 17 Angelique Kerber def. Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-4
Analysis
As he began his quest for his fourth career U.S. Open title, top-seeded Novak Djokovic looked sharp throughout his opening match against Damir Dzumhur, walking away with a straight-set victory:
Djokovic won the tournament in 2018 but had to retire in the fourth round last year due to injury.
Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka dropped a set against Misaki Doi but ultimately moved on to the next round.
No result was more surprising Monday than No. 9 Diego Schwartzman giving up a two-set lead and falling to Cameron Norrie. Normally, Norrie's winning point would have been accompanied by a roar from the crowd.
Instead, polite clapping could be heard from the few people in attendance, with no fans allowed at the tournament this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Norrie didn't get his roaring applause, but Twitter had him covered:
After the contest, Norrie was more critical of his play than ecstatic with his comeback and upset, per Kevin Mitchell of The Guardian:
"I'm pretty tired. The tennis and the level wasn't that great but I had a real good attitude throughout and I was happy with that. But to sneak past him in the end, it was a tough one. I’m not sure if [58 break points] is a good stat to have. I missed so many points in the first set but managed to convert way more at the end.
"The first two sets I was rushing everything, going for too much, making way too many errors. Suddenly I was up a break and kept building. I struggled at the start of the fifth but backed myself physically, and he was struggling at the end, getting a bit upset with Jamie [Murray], Dom [Inglot] and the other Brits cheering for me in the stands. I knew he was cramping a little bit. I kept the ball deep and came up with some good angles. I was fighting like a dog."
Outside of Schwartzman's surprising loss, the early play went mostly chalk in both the men's and women's draw. No. 1 Karolina Pliskova absolutely rolled past Anhelina Kalinina in straight sets, looking like one of the few women capable of giving top contenders Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka a run for their money in New York.
"I would rather have fans," Pliskova said of the mostly empty arena, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. "I didn't know whether to cheer myself on or stay calm. We had a couple of tournaments back home and there were some fans but this is empty."
"I still have my team and center court I think there is actually like a couple people," she added. "It's super huge and it still feels super empty, but I feel like there is at least couple people watching there."
And of course, more than a few people are watching at home on television. But this year's U.S. Open is undoubtedly operating in a strange environment.