U.S. Women's Report: Emma Navarro, Jessica Pegula take first steps to save their summers

NEW YORK—It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Not at the US Open, your home tournament, on the first opening Sunday in the event’s history. Not when you were a semifinalist here just last year. Not when your opponent, Yafan Wang, is ranked No. 170 in the world. Not when 6,000 wildly enthusiastic and supportive fans have your back in that just-right bowl called the Grandstand.

It wasn’t supposed to be like that, yet there was Emma Navarro, the No. 10 seed who burst into stardom here last year. She was floundering through what would become a 14-minute game in which she would smack five double faults, struggle with her balance and footwork, and ultimately give up a break—the fifth of this topsy-turvy struggle, that left Wang in ahead, 4-3.

It went on like that, this unpredictable match in which Navarro was obliged to fend off two set points before she squeaked out an 11-9 tiebreaker and went on to win, 7-6, 6-3. Afterward, Navarro told the crowd, “Definitely I wasn't playing my best tennis. It was a really tough match, a lot of ups and downs, but I just told myself, 'I gotta be tough.'"

Navarro does “tough” well, but this was an inauspicious start, if not an entirely surprising one. For Navarro, along with two other Americans who also earned their chops at recent US Opens, has been struggling—even on the beloved hard courts Americans feel most comfortable on.

Since Wimbledon, Navarro is just 1-4; Coco Gauff, US Open champion in 2023, is 5-2—but struggling with double fault demons so much that she changed her coach; while Jessica Pegula, runner-up here last year to Aryna Sabalenka, is 2-3 since a first-round loss at the All England Club.

Pegula also launched her campaign at Flushing Meadows on Sunday, with a much less stressful experience. She raced through a 6-0 first set with Mayar Sharif, a boom-or-bust player from Egypt, in just 22 minutes. Her serve was clicking, her placements precise, and her trademark flat strokes had sting.

“One thing about Jess’s ball,” former doubles standout Renee Stubbs, now a television analyst, said on air. “Is that it seems to trampoline off her strings. It doesn’t look like she’s hitting it hard but let me tell you - at the other end it looks like it’s coming at you very quickly and it’s very flat.”

Pegula is 31, and on balance she’s had a good year until the summer events. Ranked and seeded No. 4, she has a formidable reputation for focus and consistency. But lately she’s been prone to lapses of that trademark intensity. That nasty virus kicked in again during the second set of her match.

Sherif, a tall and rangy bundle of energy, began to push Pegula around on the court with her great big topspin shots. Pegula gave up the tactical high ground and retreated to defense. The second serve, her standout vulnerability, let her down—she would win just 23 percent of those points in the second set. Pegula did not emerge from her swoon until her challenger’s lead ballooned to 4-1.

At that point, though, Pegula broke serve, then held. After another break, Pegula wrapped up the 6-0, 6-4 win with a brace of picture-book, very Pegula-esque shots: a backhand down-the-line dart to the very corner of the court, followed by an inside-out forehand that left Sherif rooted, beaten.

“I’m happy I started off quickly, because—second night match, opening day, it’s kind of nerve wracking,” Pegula said in her on-court interview, “I’m glad I came out fast and gave myself a cushion.”

Iconic US Open champion Chris Evert has said that we shouldn’t judge a player’s game at a Grand Slam tournamenr until she’s played at least two matches. It’s a handy guideline, as it takes into account both first-round jitters and quality of competition. It’s especially valuable at the US Open.

Even then, form is subject to a great deal of shaping by other factors at the final major of the year. Fatigue after the long Grand Slam slog can be a factor, especially in conjunction with ambient weather conditions, the tournament’s “open all night” hours, patriotic inspiration and the familiar, antic New York atmosphere all can play a role in outcomes. It holds true in both draws.

On the eve of the tournament, Madison Keys, the No. 6 seed this year, was asked if she were surprised that 10 different women won the US Open in the past 11 years—with no successful title defense since Serena Williams won her third successive title in Gotham in 2014 (on the ATP side, no man has successfully defended since Roger Federer in 2008).

“I'm not overly surprised,” the Australian Open champion replied. “I feel like the depth of the women's game is very much there, and in my head, before we start any tournament, there's 25 people that I think could have a great run or win the tournament.”

It just so happens the tournament draw was populated with 25 women from the host nation, five of whom ventured forth yesterday under temperate if breezy skies. Four of them survived to fight again, likely come Wednesday.

The two other U.S. women who struck a blow for the home folks were McCartney Kessler and Caty McNally. The former is a late-blooming 26-year who cut her teeth on the collegiate game. Kessler, who fought her way up this summer to claim the No. 32 seed, was winless in her last five starts at majors, but she broke that streak with flair, bouncing Polish veteran Magda Linette, 7-5, 7-5.

McNnally, now 23, had a lengthy, successful doubles partnership with fellow prodigy Gauff. But the Cincinnati native fell on hard times, mainly due to an elbow injury that caused her to miss close to a year of tennis. This year she has worked her way back into the Top 100. She won her first match in New York since 2020 on Sunday, eliminating Jil Teichmann, 6-2. 6-2.

Gauff, Keys, and the rest of the U.S. cast will be staggered over the next two days. It’s a large fleet of players. But while there’s no safety in numbers in tennis, the mutual support and camaraderie can be useful.

Mary Jo Fernandez, ESPN’s on-court interviewer, asked Pegula how she felt being part of a great wave of American players, three of whom are in the Top 10 (with Navarro at No. 11).

“I love it,” Pegula said. “I love it so much. A lot of the American girls are pretty close, but I think we’re always motivating and pushing each other even though we’re all on completely different journeys. It’s really cool to be part of that really strong group of women.”

Right now, the leading lights of the women’s game in the U.S. can use all the support and help they can muster.