US Open: Experienced Krejcikova ousts in-form Mboko in first round

New York, Aug 25 (IANS) Two-time major champion Barbora Krejcikova of Czechia overcame the in-form Victoria Mboko, the recently-crowned Montreal winner, in one of the most eye-catching first-round matchups in the women's singles at the US Open, getting the better of the 18-year-old from Canada in straight sets here on Monday.

It was clash between Mboko's youthful exuberance and the experince of Krejcikova, who won the French Open title in 2021 and lifted the Wimbledon trophy in 2024. The Czech emerged a 6-3, 6-2 win in 1 hour and 23 minutes proving her recent resurgence is no flash in the pan.

It was a clash between two players that have experienced the two extremes of fortunes this year. The 29-year-old Krejcikova had slipped out of the Top 10 at the start of 2025 after missing the Tour for six months due to a back injury while Moboko, more than a decade her junior, was languishing outside the Top 300. But this week, the surging Mboko was the seeded player at No. 22, while Krejcikova's current position of No. 62 means she is unseeded in New York.

However, in the end the old order prevailed and the experienced Krejcikova prevailed over her opponent and advanced into the second round.

The Czech star demonstrated emphatically that she has lost her ranking but not her class, putting forth her tactical nous on show from the start. Alternating knifing slices with heavy clouts off both wings, she effectively prevented Mboko from finding a rhythm while setting points up for her own winners.

Mboko, who sustained a wrist injury during her Montreal title run and withdrew from Cincinnati the following week to recover, seemed hampered at times by the injury. Though she managed to unleash a scattering of her signature backhand winners down the line, the Canadian teenager shook out her heavily-strapped wrist several times, and coughed up 10 double faults. That included two in her opening game, two in the last game of the opening set, two more to drop serve at the start of the second and two in the final game of the match.

By contrast, Krejcikova's serve got better and better as the match progressed. She won 81% of her first-serve points overall, and conceded only three points on serve in the second set. It was an effective way to build on her promising fourth-round run in Cincinnati, the first time she had won three matches in one tournament since the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Moreover, a ranking far below Krejcikova's career high of No. 2 has not bothered her in the past: she won both of her major titles, Roland Garros 2021 and Wimbledon 2024, while ranked outside the Top 30.

The 29-year-old will next face Japan's Moyuka Uchijima, who snapped a 10-match losing streak by saving seven match points to defeat Olga Danilovic 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6[9] on Sunday.

In other first round matches on Monday, Diana Parry of France ousted former Major winner Petra Kvitova of Czechia.6-1,.6-0 while fourth seed Jessia Pegula of the United States defeated Sherif Ahmed Abdalaziz of Egypt 6-0, 6-4.

--IANS

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