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NEW YORK: Venus Williams battled bravely before bowing out of the US Open on her return to Grand Slam tennis on Monday as Spanish ace Carlos Alcaraz stormed into the second round with a dominant opening win.
The second full day of action in New York saw all eyes turn to the Arthur Ashe Stadium’s night session, where the 45-year-old Williams lost in three sets to 11th seed Karolina Muchova.
Williams only returned to competitive tennis in July following a 16-month absence from the sport and had been granted a wild card into the main draw at Flushing Meadows.
But hopes of a fairytale run — 28 years after her debut in the tournament — ended in a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 loss to Muchova, who was not even born when Williams turned professional in 1994.
“I didn’t win today but I’m very proud of the way I played,” Williams, the US Open champion in 2000 and 2001, said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a crowd on my side like that. I knew people around the world and around the United States were really rooting for me, and that felt great.”
With the American exiting, 2022 men’s champion Alcaraz took center-stage in the late game in his first round tie against unseeded American Reilly Opelka.
The Spaniard arrived for the game sporting a striking new hairstyle — a severe crew cut — and he duly chopped down the 6ft 11in Opelka with a blistering 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory in 2hr 5min.
“Today was a really difficult one,” Alcaraz said. “Reilly is a great, tough player. I couldn’t get the rhythm that I wanted to get but I’m just really happy with what I did today. I did a great performance today.”
Alcaraz is chasing a second US Open title following his maiden Grand Slam victory at the tournament three years ago.
Australian Open winner Madison Keys became the highest-ranked player to exit so far, the sixth seed losing to Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (7/3), 7-5.
“Today was the first time in a while where my nerves really got the better of me and it kind of became a little bit paralyzing,” home hope Keys said.
“I was just slow, I wasn’t seeing things the way that I wanted to, which I feel like resulted in a lot of bad decisions and lazy footwork.”
Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova bundled out rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko, defeating the teenager 6-3, 6-2.
Belgian 19th seed Elize Mertens ousted wild card Alyssa Ahn 6-1, 6-0 while Ukrainian 30th seed Dayana Yastremska exited in a 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 loss to Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova brought the curtain down on her career after a 6-1, 6-0 defeat to France’s Diane Parry.
The 35-year-old Czech had already announced her intention to retire after the US Open, but was nonetheless overcome with emotion as she said farewell to the sport, breaking down in tears as she addressed fans afterwards.
“I hoped I would put on a better show today,” Kvitova said. “It was tough to know it could be my last match, and emotionally it was very tough as well.”
Qualifier Coleman Wong became the first man from Hong Kong to record a victory in a Grand Slam singles event in the Open era with a 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) defeat of US player Aleksandar Kovacevic.
It was the latest in a series of breakthrough results by young Asian players at this year’s US Open.
Alexandra Eala of the Philippines — who trains with Wong at Rafael Nadal’s academy in Spain — and Indonesia’s Janice Tjen both won their first-round matches in the main draw.
British fifth seed Jack Draper needed four sets to get past Argentina’s Federico Gomez, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (7/9), 6-2.
Other seeds to advance included Norway’s Casper Ruud, the 12th seed, who downed Austria’s Sebastian Ofner 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).
US 17th seed Frances Tiafoe beat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3.

NEWCASTLE, England: The absent Alexander Isak dominated the buildup to Newcastle United’s clash at home to Liverpool but the Swede was temporarily forgotten in a rip-roaring contest that ended 3-2 to the reigning champions thanks to a stoppage-time winner by teenaged Premier League debutant Rio Ngumoha.

Isak’s desire to leave Newcastle, with Liverpool his destination of choice, guaranteed a boisterous St. James’ Park atmosphere and it seemed Arne Slot’s visitors had buckled as they threw away a flattering 2-0 lead against a side reduced to 10 men by Anthony Gordon’s red card in first-half stoppage time.

But 16-year-old Ngumoha broke Newcastle’s hearts shortly after coming off the bench, thrashing in the winner with a first-time right-foot shot in the 10th minute of stoppage time to become Liverpool’s youngest ever scorer and the fourth youngest in Premier League history.

It was a sickening blow for Newcastle who were again without outcast striker Isak, but who began the game in superb fashion.

Even when the red mist and fate had dealt them multiple blows they still showed great resilience to fight back but it all counted for nothing in the end.

“We know there was a lot of oil on the fire this week to get Newcastle fired up,” Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk said.

“I enjoy these type of atmospheres, so I was really looking forward to it but we could’ve made it easier. We gave them the boost and the feeling and the drive with the fans behind them but we managed to get the three points and move on.”

Liverpool had been forced to soak up Newcastle pressure for half an hour and had made little headway but took the lead completely against the run of play when Ryan Gravenberch cut in from the left and dispatched a low shot just inside Nick Pope’s post in the 35th minute.

Rash tackle

Newcastle’s frustration got the better of Gordon who was sent off in first-half stoppage time for a rash tackle that left stud marks on the back of van Dijk’s calf – his initial yellow card being upgraded to a red by referee Simon Hooper.

And when Hugo Ekitike, who Newcastle had wanted to sign possibly as a replacement for Isak, struck 20 seconds after the break with the sort of clinical side-foot finish that makes you wonder whether Liverpool even require more strikers, it looked all over for the hosts.

It was a curiously lethargic display by Liverpool though with Mohamed Salah unusually quiet and when Bruno Guimaraes headed past Alisson in the 57th minute the noise levels rose and Newcastle were re-energized.

Liverpool completely lost control of the game and were punished in the 88th minute as William Osula seized on defensive hesitation to nip onto a long punt forward by Pope and slot a close-range finish past Alisson.

Despite being a man down and suffering injuries to Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Fabian Schar it looked like Newcastle might grab an unlikely win but Ngumoha struck in fairytale fashion to make it two wins from two games for Liverpool.

They join Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur on six points while Newcastle, who will be desperate to settle the Isak saga before the closure of the transfer window next week, have one point from their opening two games.

“Second half we had a mountain to climb at 2-0 down with 10 men but I thought we controlled the game,” Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said. “I thought we were really good and fought our way back unbelievably well but couldn’t get over the line.”

Howe opted not to comment on reports that Newcastle’s Saudi hierarchy had flown in for talks with Isak in a bid to resolve a saga that has been running since Liverpool had a bid of more than €100 million ($135.09 million) rejected for the player who has scored 54 goals in 86 Premier League games for Newcastle.

“We hope that we can bring players in,” Howe said. “We have been trying throughout the window, especially in the forward positions.”