U.S. Open: Defending champ Kerber suffers stunning 1st-round loss
German tennis player will fall out of top-10 world ranking
Angelique Kerber left the U.S. Open last year on top of women's tennis, with a second Grand Slam title and the No. 1 ranking.
She leaves this year after one match — unsure of exactly what went wrong during a season-long slump.
The sixth-seeded German was beaten by Naomi Osaka of Japan 6-3, 6-1, the first defending women's champion eliminated in the first round of the U.S. Open in 12 years.
"I think, yeah, it was not my day, completely not my day today," Kerber said.
Not her year, actually.
US OPEN: Wed. Bouchard is 1st match at 11 am on Ashe v Rodina, Shapovalov in is last @ night on Ashe v Tsonga, Pospisil 3rd on 17 v Verdasco
—@tomtebbuttKerber is also on her way out of the top 10 after losing one of the only completed matches before most of the schedule was washed out on a rainy Tuesday. Canada's Genie Bouchard was scheduled to play Tuesday and will now play her first-round match on Wednesday morning, while Denis Shapovalov will play his second-round match later in Wednesday night.
Earlier, No. 1 seed Karolina Pliskova won her first-round match, defeating Magda Linette of Poland 6-2, 6-1.
Fellow Czech Barbora Strycova also advanced quickly to the second round. The No. 23 seed beat Misaki Doi of Japan 6-1, 6-3.
Not since Svetlana Kuznetsova lost in the first round in 2005 had the defending U.S. Open women's champion been ousted so early.
But perhaps it wasn't too surprising after Kerber played so poorly following her breakthrough 2016, when she also won the Australian Open and lost to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final before ascending to No. 1 with her victory here.
This year, she fell in the first round of the French Open, that first time that had ever happened to the women's No. 1 seed in that tournament.
She said she had been practicing well and was confident, despite some minor nagging injuries she had bothered her throughout the season.
"I'm still the same player and the same person, so I think it's just — yeah, I think it's just the matches and how I played last year from the beginning and how I'm struggling this year," Kerber said.
Kerber and Osaka had the stage to themselves after play was suspended on all courts other than Arthur Ashe Stadium, which has a retractable roof that was closed midway through No. 1 Karolina Pliskova's 6-2, 6-1 victory over Magda Linette of Poland.
Kerber then took the same court where she beat Pliskova for the title last year and took another stinging defeat.
The left-hander fell to 25-18 with no titles in 2017. She needed to make it to at least the round of 16 to stay in the top 10 and couldn't get close. She had been in the top 10 since Oct. 5, 2015, a run that would total 101 weeks before she falls out.
Federer survives scare
Roger Federer already has dropped two more sets at the U.S. Open than he did during his entire two weeks en route to the title at Wimbledon.
Worried about a recent back problem, Federer was a step or two off with his footwork at the outset. His backhand, in particular, was problematic. He had to overcome an early deficit and a late lapse Tuesday night to edge 19-year-old American Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in a compelling first-round contest.
"I had a bit of a slow start today, but Frances also felt good from the beginning. I was maybe a bit worried at the beginning with my back issue from a couple of weeks ago," Federer said, "but was eventually able to let go."
The No. 3-seeded Federer, whose most recent of five championships at Flushing Meadows came in 2008, got broken in the first game and dropped the opening set of the topsy-turvy match. He then appeared to take control by grabbing eight of nine games to seize the second and third sets. But he let that lead slip away.
"He won by the skin of his teeth," Tiafoe said.
It was Federer's 79th career victory at the U.S. Open, equaling Andre Agassi for second-most. Only Jimmy Connors has more, with 98.
For more than a half-hour Tuesday, it appeared as if Federer was still dealing with the after-effects of having tweaked his back during a loss in the hard-court final at Montreal this month. He sat out the following week's tournament at Cincinnati.
Of the first 20 points won by Tiafoe, only two came via his own winners, a pair of aces. The rest were a result of Federer's miscues — 12 unforced, six forced — and Tiafoe gladly accepted the first set.
Tiafoe, who is from Maryland and now is based in Florida, is ranked 70th and has never been past the second round at a major tournament.
This was his second match against Federer. Tiafoe pushed Federer to a first-set tiebreaker when they faced each other in March at the Miami Masters before losing in two sets.
"Eventually," Tiafoe said, "I'll win more than I lose these."
Seeds falling fast
With No. 2 Simona Halep's loss to Maria Sharapova on Monday night and seventh-seeded Johanna Konta also falling, three of the top-seven seeds on the women's side were gone by the mid-day Tuesday — with Williams not playing because she's pregnant.
Osaka broke for a 5-3 lead in the first set, then seized control when she broke twice in the second set to open a 4-1 cushion. She finished off the 65-minute victory when Kerber dumped a forehand into the net on match point before quickly departing for the locker room.
It was Osaka's first victory over a top-10 opponent after she was oh-so-close to beating a top player here last year, blowing a 5-1 lead in the third set and losing to Madison Keys in the third round.
"I just want to play good," Osaka said. "I played good today, so I want to carry that on to my next match."
Nadal an easy winner
Rafael Nadal has improved to 13-0 in U.S. Open first-round matches by beating Serbia's Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (6), 6-2, 6-2.
The No. 1 seed dominated after a first set that lasted more than an hour. With rain wiping out most of the day's play, Nadal became the first man to complete a match Tuesday.
With his victory, the two-time U.S. Open champion assured that Roger Federer has to reach the semifinals for a chance to regain the No. 1 ranking.
Federer was to play later Tuesday against American Frances Tiafoe.