US Open 2015: women’s singles kicks off

Are there so many matches at the US Open 2015 that you just don’t know what matches to watch? Tennis Served Fresh has compiled a list of matches for Day 1 to make your life a bit easier. The list includes but is not limited to Serena Williams vs Vitalia Diatchenko, Ana Ivanovic vs Dominika Cibulkova, Belinda Bencic vs Sesil Karanantcheva and Eugenie Bouchard vs Alison Riske.

For the full schedule and order of play we refer you to the official US Open Order of Play website.

Serena Williams vs Vitalia Diatchenko

[1] SERENA WILLIAMS (USA #1) vs. VITALIA DIATCHENKO (RUS #86)

Head-to-Head: First meeting

Serena Williams kicks off US Open 2015 campaign

World No.1 Serena Williams is on a 28-match winning streak at Grand Slam level having won the 2014 US Open, 2015 Australian Open, 2015 Roland Garros and 2015 Wimbledon – her second non-calendar year Grand Slam. In New York she is bidding to win the calendar year Grand Slam, a feat not accomplished since Steffi Graf in 1988. Graf went on to also capture the 1989 Australian Open – making it five Slams in a row.

Vitalia Diatchenko

• While Diatchenko is making her second main draw appearance at US Open, and first since qualifying in 2011 (l. J.Zheng in 1r); prior to that, fell in qualifying in 2009-10
• 2015 marks first year she has contested main draw at all four Slams – advanced to 2r at Roland Garros (l.Sharapova), equaling best Grand Slam result of career to date (also 2009 Roland Garros)
• Heading into match against S.Williams is 0-1 vs. World No.1s – l. Safina at 2009 Roland Garros
• S.Williams is just the second Top 20 player Diatchenko has faced this year, the other being Sharapova at Roland Garros. Defeated No.14 Cibulkova at 2014 Moscow for sole Top 20 win of career; is 1-2 lifetime vs. Top 20 and has nine career wins vs. Top 100 opponents (all levels)
• Owns a 2-4 record in Grand Slam 1r matches

Ana Ivanovic vs Dominika Cibulkova

DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA (SVK #50) vs. [7] ANA IVANOVIC (SRB #7)

Head-to-Head: 2-2

Dominika Cibulkova stats

• Making eighth main draw appearance at US Open. Best result is reaching QF in 2010 (l. Wozniacki); has fallen in 1r each of the past two years – last year, l. WC Bellis, ranked No.1208
• 2015 US Open marks 32nd main draw appearance at a Grand Slam
• Coming off QF run at New Haven (l. Safarova in 3s); other US Open Series results include 2r at Toronto (l. Cornet) and 1r at Cincinnati (l. Pennetta)

Ana Ivanovic stats

• Making 11th appearance at US Open. Best result is reaching QF in 2012 (l. eventual champion S.Williams) and has advanced to R16 on four occasions (2007, 2010-11, 2013)
• Made Grand Slam main draw debut at 2005 Australian Open and has not missed a major since – 2015 US Open marks 44th consecutive appearance at a Slam
• Champion at 2008 Roland Garros; also a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, at 2007 Roland Garros and 2008
• Australian Open, and reached SF at 2007 Wimbledon and 2015 Roland Garros. US Open remains only Slam where she is yet to reach SF
• Coming off back-to-back QF efforts at Toronto (l. eventual champion Bencic) and Cincinnati (l. eventual champion S.Williams)
• At Cincinnati, advanced to 3r without hitting a ball – after 1r bye, received 2r walkover (V.Williams) – and d. Stephens in 3r

 

Belinda Bencic vs Sesil Karantantcheva

[12] BELINDA BENCIC (SUI #12) vs. SESIL KARATANTCHEVA (BUL #106)

Head-to-head: First time

Belinda Bencic stats (TSF’s Player to watch!)

• Making second appearance at US Open. On event debut in 2014 advanced to QF, defeating No.6 seed Kerber and No.9 seed Jankovic en route (l. Peng); became youngest player to reach QF at US Open since 1997, when fellow Swiss Martina Hingis won the title
• 2015 US Open represents eighth main draw appearance at a Slam; best result so far this year at majors was R16 run at Wimbledon (l. Azarenka)
• US Open Series highlighted by second (and biggest) career singles title won at Premier 5 Toronto; became first teenager to win an event at Premier 5 level or higher since Azarenka at 2009 Miami. All of her wins during the Toronto week were over former Grand Slam champions or finalists (in order: Bouchard, Wozniacki, Lisicki, Ivanovic,S.Williams, Halep (ret. in third set w/heat illness); now 2-2 in WTA singles finals
• Posted first win over a reigning world No.1 with defeat of S.Williams in SF at Toronto (Serena’s only hardcourt loss of the year so far); at 18 years of age became youngest player to defeat S.Williams in a completed match since 2004 WTA Finals, when 17-year-old Maria Sharapova d. Serena in F (Serena also lost at 2007 Charleston to then 17-year-old Chan Yung-Jan via first set retirement at 5-3)

Sesil Karantantcheva stats

• Making fourth main draw appearance at US Open. Made debut at event in 2004 (1r) and reached 2r in 2005 – then didn’t play main draw here again until 2012 (1r). Fell in qualifying 2013-14
• 2015 US Open marks 14th main draw appearance at a Grand Slam. Best result is reaching QF at 2005 Roland Garros, a run that included a defeat of V.Williams in 3r; was 15 years old at the time – was youngest quarterfinalist in Paris since Capriati in 1990
• US Open is the third Grand Slam main draw she has played in 2015 (exception being the Australian Open – fell in qualifying); the last time she played three Slams in a season was 2005 (played all four)
• Has won her way through qualifying on five occasions this year, including Indian Wells (2r), Miami (2r) and Charleston (1r), but fallen in qualifying nine times, including all three attempts during this month’s US Open Series – Toronto, Cincinnati and New Haven

Eugenie Bouchard vs Alison Riske

[25] EUGENIE BOUCHARD (CAN #25) vs. ALISON RISKE (USA #57)

Head to Head: Eugenie Bouchard leads 4-1

Eugenie Bouchard stats

• Making third appearance at US Open. Reached 2r on debut in 2013 (l. Kerber) and advanced to R16 in 2014 (l. Makarova)
• Went 1-3 during the US Open Series: withdrew from event in Washington DC (w/abdominal injury), reached 2r at Cincinnati (d. K.Bondarenko, l. Svitolina) and made 1r exits at Toronto (l. eventual champion Bencic) and New Haven (l. Vinci)
• The victory in Cincinnati was her first match win since Eastbourne, where she defeated Riske – who is also today’s opponent
• Enters US Open with a 9-17 record for the year. Has won back-to-back matches at two events: Australian Open (QF) and Indian Wells (R16)

Alison Riske stats

• Making fourth main draw appearance at US Open. Best result is reaching R16 in 2013 (l. Hantuchova). Made 1r exit in 2011 and 2014
• Posted the following results during the US Open Series: advanced to QF at Stanford (l. Svitolina), 2r at Toronto (l. Witthoeft), and lost openers at Cincinnati (l. Svitolina) and New Haven (l. Wozniacki)
• Result at Stanford was second Premier-level QF of career (after 2014 New Haven)
• Best results so far this season are reaching SF on hardcourts at Hobart in January (l. eventual champion Watson) and on grass at Nottingham in June (l. eventual champion Konjuh); three of her five career SF appearances have come on grass
• Aside from Hobart, Nottingham and Stanford, has not won back-to-back matches at any other event this year