QUEENS, NY — Australian Open champion Madison Keys suffered a shock first-round defeat against Mexico’s Renata Zarazua amid searing heat at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday afternoon.
Keys, the world No. 6, made a staggering 89 unforced errors in a marathon match against the 95th-ranked Zarazua, who recorded by far the biggest win of her career against the hometown favorite on Monday.
Zarazua recovered from being a set and a break down to win 6-7 (10), 7-6 (3), 7-5 against a fancied Keys that had not suffered a first-round loss in any of her previous 15 grand slam appearances.
Keys, who won her maiden slam title Down Under in January, was sluggish throughout but appeared set to avoid a banana skin after taking a mammoth first-set tiebreaker and racing into a 3-0 lead early in the second.
She quickly handed the initiative back to her opponent, however, losing five straight games before eventually losing the second set in an error-strewn tiebreaker.
Keys, a two-time US Open semifinalist, continued to look labored in the decider and looked to have handed Zarazua victory with a characteristically sloppy service game in the eighth game of the set. At deuce, Keys double-faulted and then went long with a routine groundstroke to hand Zarazua the break and leave the Mexican serving for the set.
Keys did rally and produce arguably her best tennis of the match to break back immediately, producing a series of stunning winners to bring the deciding set back on serve.
However, Zarazua, who had never beaten a top-ten player prior to Monday’s shock victory, maintained her composure to take a 6-5 lead in the set and leave Keys needing to hold serve to force another tiebreaker.
Keys produced three unforced errors to give Zarazua a match point before going long with a forehand to give her opponent the biggest win of her career.
Speaking on court after the upset victory, Zarazua said she was “almost crying” with nerves before taking the court, but that the crowd allowed her to loosen up. She also credited the Arthur Ashe crowd for remaining invested in the 3-hour and 10-minute contest.
“I know my game is a bit tricky and sometimes people get a bit bored, but thank you for staying till the end,” Zarazua said afterward.
Zarazua, the only Mexican player in either the men’s or women’s singles draw, hit just eight winners in Monday’s three-setter, but crucially made just 34 unforced errors to Keys’ 89. She also produced just five double faults to Keys’ 14.
There was joy for American tennis elsewhere in the women’s draw, with 17-year-old prodigy Iva Jovic booking her place in the second round for the second year running after a straight-sets victory over Belarus’s Aliaksandra Sasnovich on Monday afternoon.
Doubles specialist Taylor Townsend also booked safe passage to the second round of the singles draw with a straight-sets victory over Antonia Ruzic, although Julieta Pareja and Alyssa Ahn both suffered comprehensive defeats, losing in straight sets against Elena Rybakina and Elise Mertens, respectively.
