Defending champ Aryna Sabalenka wins 1st-round US Open match

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NEW YORK -- Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka moved into the second round of the US Open on Sunday after weathering a challenging first set in her first match.

The No. 1 player took down Swiss player Rebeka Masarova 7-5, 6-1, but it wasn't without struggle. Sabalenka went down a break early in the first set, keeping the two neck-and-neck until the defending champion was able to pull away from their 5-5 deadlock.

Sabalenka then dominated the second set, dropping only one game en route to her eventual victory.

She credited the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium for helping her make it through that tight first set.

"When I won that set point and you were cheering me up, I had goosebumps while I was sitting," Sabalenka said on court after the win. "Your support means a lot to me, and thank you so much."

Since the start of 2023, Sabalenka has won 59 major matches to lead all women. She is bidding to become the first woman to defend her US Open title since Serena Williams in 2014; this run of 10 straight US Opens without a back-to-back champion on the women's side is the longest since the tournament eliminated the Challenge Round in 1912.

Sabalenka will face Polina Kudermetova in the second round. Kudermetova advanced when her opponent Nuria Parrizas Diaz retired at 2-2 in the opening set.

Sabalenka defeated Kudermetova in their most recent matchup in Dubai in February.

In other women's singles results Sunday, Janice Tjen defeated No. 24 seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to become the first Indonesian player to win a major match since Angelique Widjaja at Wimbledon in 2003.

Tjen, who played college tennis at Oregon and finished her career at Pepperdine, qualified her way into the main draw. From May to July, she won 27 consecutive ITF matches, a run that included five titles.

Earlier Sunday, Emma Raducanu won a match in New York for the first time since she won the 2021 US Open title, eliminating Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-2. Raducanu needed just 62 minutes to reach to the second round, the fastest major match win of her career in terms of time on court.

American Jessica Pegula, the 2024 runner-up at Flushing Meadows, was up against Mayar Sherif in the last match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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