New York
AP
—
Australian Open champion Madison Keys was undone by 89 unforced errors and was upset in the first round of the U.S. Open 6-7 (10), 7-6 (3), 7-5 by Mexico’s Renata Zarazua on Monday.
The sixth-seeded Keys, who was the runner-up at Flushing Meadows in 2017, made so many mistakes, including 14 double-faults, that Zarazua needed to produce just eight winners to earn the biggest victory of her career.
The 82nd-ranked Zarazua had lost in either the first or second round in all eight of her previous Grand Slam appearances.
Keys earned her first major championship at Melbourne Park in January, defeating No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
In addition to her run to the final in New York eight years ago before losing to good friend Sloane Stephens, Keys also was a semifinalist at the U.S. Open in 2018 and 2023.
But with her left thigh heavily taped Monday, the big-hitting Keys struggled for stretches in Arthur Ashe Stadium against the 5-foot-3 Zarazua, who came into the day with a 0-6 record against opponents ranked in the top 10.
“I’m a little bit small in height, so coming in here, it was like: ‘Oh, my God. This is huge,” Zarazua said about the largest stadium in Grand Slam tennis, which holds nearly 24,000 spectators.
“When I retire, I’m going to be really happy about it,” Zarazua said, “so I was like, ‘Just enjoy it.’”
She certainly did.
When the match ended with Keys missing yet another forehand, Zarazua smiled as wide as possible, held her racket atop her head as she began walking forward for a handshake, then placed a hand over her face.
This one certainly was memorable, in part because it did not come easily — even though Keys kept having problems and Zarazua kept moving ahead across the 3 hours, 10 minutes of action.
The trouble for Zarazua was that she had a hard time closing the deal.
She went up 4-2 in the first set, then was a point from owning it five times, but couldn’t convert any of those opportunities. Eventually, Keys converted her third set point.
In the second set, Zarazua fell behind 3-0, then took five games in a row to lead 5-3. She trailed 6-5 after another run by Keys, but this time came through in the tiebreaker to force a third set.
Zarazua led in the decider and served for the win at 5-3, but Keys broke there and then held for 5-all.
At the end, though, Zarazua took the last two games.
While Keys was one of 25 American players in the women’s singles draw at their home Grand Slam tournament, Zarazua is Mexico’s lone entrant in the bracket.
“It’s a country that we don’t have many tennis players, as you can see,” Zarazua said. “We just try to give our best. But definitely, I could hear some Mexicans cheering, so that was very nice.”
