Australian Open champion and hometown hope Madison Keys has let a big lead slip to go down in the first round of the the US Open, losing 6-7(10/12), 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 to unheralded Mexican Renata Zarazúa.
Keys could tell she was not hitting the ball well or feeling very much at all like the confident player who claimed her first grand slam title at the Australian Open in January.
After 89 unforced errors, including 14 double faults, the sixth-seeded Keys was gone from Flushing Meadows to her 82nd-ranked opponent, despite having led by a set and 3-0.
"For the first time in a while … my nerves really got the better of me, and it kind of became a little bit paralysing," said Keys, the runner-up in New York to good friend Sloane Stephens in 2017 and a semifinalist in 2018 and 2023.
"I felt like 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.
"For whatever reason, today I just couldn't separate myself from … feeling like winning matters just way too much."
She made so many mistakes off the spin-laden shots coming her way that Zarazúa needed to produce just eight winners to earn the biggest victory of her career.
Despite playing in the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time, having only had a chance to hit there once a couple of days prior, and boasting a 0-6 record against opponents ranked in the top 10, Zarazúa was unwavering.
"I'm a little bit small in height, so coming in here, it was like, 'Oh my God, this is huge,'" Zarazúa said about the largest stadium in tennis, which holds nearly 24,000 spectators.
When the match ended with Keys missing a forehand after 3 hours and 10 minutes, Zarazúa smiled as widely as possible, held her racquet atop her head, then placed a hand over her face.
She is the only Mexican left in the singles draw after Ignacio Buse was beaten by Ben Shelton in straight sets to kick off day one.
"Coming into the match I was almost crying because I was really nervous but I think the crowd made it so chill for me," Zarazúa said.
"I could hear some Mexican [fans] cheering, so that was very nice."
The emotions were also flowing elsewhere on day two, as two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and 2022 US Open semifinalist Caroline Garcia bid farewell with opening-round losses.
Kvitova, whose reached the quarterfinals in New York in 2015 and 2017, went down to France's Diane Parry 6-1, 6-0 in just 52 minutes, tearfully embracing coach and husband Jirí Vanek before waving goodbye to Flushing Meadows.
Kvitova won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014 and reached number two in the world, and she came back to the sport after being injured by a knife-wielding home invader in 2016.
After surgery to repair lacerations to her left hand, which she played with, she reached the Australian Open final in 2019 and a semifinal at the French Open in 2020.
The 35-year-old won 31 singles titles in her career, including 12 after the attack.
Frenchwoman Garcia was also overcome by emotion after her 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 loss to Russian Kamilla Rakhimova, but said she had no regrets about her decision.
"It means a lot, all the support. It's very special," the 31-year-old told the American crowd.
"Tennis brought me so much, some great emotions, some tough ones and it shaped me to who the person I am today.
"I grew a lot, especially in the last [few] years. I'm very at peace with my decision to say goodbye to tennis."
AP/ABC
