Alcaraz Breaks Opelka's Serve to Advance at the US Open

NEW YORK, MONDAY – Facing Reily Opelka on the hard court in the first round of the tournament is a difficult challenge in the tennis arena, even for Carlos Alcaraz. The owner of five Grand Slam titles must endure and look for opportunities to break the opponent's serve. This becomes the key to winning the tennis match.

Alcaraz faced Opelka in the first round of the 2025 US Open Grand Slam at Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York, on Monday (25/8/2025) local time or Tuesday afternoon Indonesia time. In the last match on the main court of Flushing Meadows, Alcaraz overcame his first challenge with a victory of 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

"Today was very difficult, playing in the first set against an opponent with a serve like that. I had to stay very focused on trying to return his serve, and in the end, I am pleased with what I did today," said Alcaraz, who appeared with a shaved head as he did when winning the US Open 2022.

Alcaraz has faced other big servers like Ben Shelton, Govanni Mpetshi Perricard, and Alexei Popyrin, but this is the first time he's had to overcome a powerful serve from someone as tall as Opelka. Alcaraz, at 6'8" (183 cm), is only shoulder-height to Opelka, who is 6'11".

Opelka's height gives him a better view of the court, which increases his serve success. He can also execute a flat serve, a powerful serve with less spin that makes it difficult for opponents to return.

With that advantage, Opelka's fastest serve in his career is 240.3 km/h, achieved during the second round of the 2021 Australian Open. When facing Alcaraz, Opelka recorded a fastest serve of 225 km/h, while Alcaraz served at 212 km/h. With his serves, Opelka made 14 aces, surpassing Alcaraz's four aces.

"With Reily's serve, I found it difficult to establish the rhythm of the game that I wanted, but my service returns were quite good. When I was able to return the serve, I could play rallies well, then focus on my own serve," said Alcaraz.

Alcaraz was able to return 11 out of 31 serves from Opelka (35 percent). This percentage is better compared to Opelka, who could only return eight out of 30 serves from Alcaraz (27 percent).

One of Alcaraz's best shots of the two-hour-and-five-minute match was a winner from a defensive position. Opelka launched a backhand volley near the net into the corner of the court.

While running, Alcaraz made a passing shot, sending the ball past Opelka's position. The ball crossed the court and landed in the corner behind Opelka. The stadium erupted with applause, and Alcaraz smiled, realizing what he had done.

Alcaraz, the second seed in men's singles, arrived in New York with six championship titles this year. One of the titles was obtained from the US Open warm-up tournament, the ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati, two weeks before he faced Opelka.

In addition to those positive results, the 22-year-old Spanish tennis player carries a negative outcome as a source of motivation. At the 2024 US Open, he was eliminated in the second round after losing to Botic van de Zandschulp. Alcaraz aims to advance further compared to last year.

In addition to Alcaraz, the seeded men's singles players who won in the first round on the second day of the tournament include Jack Draper (5), Karen Khachanov (9), Holger Rune (11), and Casper Ruud (12). The day before, victories were achieved by Tylor Fritz (4), Shelton (6), and Novak Djokovic (7). Meanwhile, the top seed and defending champion, Jannik Sinner, will compete in the first round against Vit Kopriva on Tuesday local time.

In the women's singles competition, Madison Keys struggled to maintain her performance after winning the Australian Open earlier this year. The teenage player, Victoria Mboko, has also been unable to perform consistently, despite having won a major tournament in her home country, the WTA 1000 Canada, just three weeks ago.

Keys, one of the host nation's mainstays, was eliminated by Mexican Renata Zarazua, 7-6 (10), 6-7 (3), 5-7, in front of her home crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. She made 89 unforced errors, 14 of which were double faults.

"For the first time in a while, nervousness got the better of me. It made me move so slowly that I couldn't play as I wanted," said Keys.

The sixth-ranked tennis player in the world, who is also the sixth seed, won her first title in the Grand Slam arena by claiming the Australian Open championship in January. At that time, Keys demonstrated that she is not "finished" at the age of 30. This title was achieved eight years after her defeat in the 2017 US Open final.

However, after that, her performance declined, including at the Grand Slam events. At the French Open, Keys reached the quarter-finals, then the third round at Wimbledon. In the hard court tournament, which is her comfort zone, Keys was eliminated earlier after losing to Zarazua, the world number 82.

For Zarazua, the result against Keys marks her first victory after consistently losing in six matches against top ten ranked players in the world. This victory is even more memorable as it occurred at a Grand Slam and on the largest tennis court in the world.

"My stature is small, so I feel very small when I am in such a large place," said Zarazua, who is 160 cm tall and has previously engaged in gymnastics and diving.

In another arena, Mboko learned the difficult lesson of competing consistently despite having won the WTA 1000 tournament. Aside from the right wrist injury that slightly affected her movement, Mboko struggled to cope with the varied playing style of Barbora Krejcikova, who defeated her 3-6, 2-6.

"The match earlier was an opportunity for me to learn. Barbora is a Grand Slam champion with a unique playing style and a lot of variations. Meanwhile, I felt I played too hastily and lacked composure," said Mboko.

The 18-year-old tennis player became the 22nd seed at the US Open due to a ranking increase after winning the WTA Canada. After starting the 2025 competition season ranked 250th in the world, Mboko currently holds the 23rd position.

In Canada, she defeated Grand Slam champions, namely Cori Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Naomi Osaka, to secure her first title from the WTA Tour. However, this result was not enough to take her further than the third round of the French Open, which remains her best result in Grand Slam events. (ap/reuters)