Krejcikova defeats Mboko in marquee US Open first round
When the US Open draw came out, the first-round meeting between two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova and Montreal winner Victoria Mboko stood out as the most compelling matchup.
The matchup paired 18-year-old Mboko’s youth with Krejcikova’s experience, a reminder of how quickly things can shift in tennis. At the start of the season, Krejcikova was ranked in the Top 10 and Mboko was outside the Top 300. This week, Mboko is seeded at No. 22, while Krejcikova came in unseeded at No. 62.
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Krejcikova’s drop in the rankings reflects six months off tour with a back injury more than her level of play, and she showed that with a 6-3, 6-2 win in 1 hour, 23 minutes. Mixing slices with heavy groundstrokes, the Czech kept Mboko out of rhythm and created chances for her own winners. Even a brief delay in the second set, when her vibration dampener popped loose and was eventually found under a courtside fridge, didn’t slow her down.
Mboko, who sustained a wrist injury during her Montreal title run and withdrew from Cincinnati the following week to recover, seemed hampered at times by it. Though she delivered a scattering of her signature backhand winners down the line, the Canadian teenager shook out her heavily strapped wrist several times and served up 10 double faults. That included two in her opening game, two in the last game of the opening set, two more to drop serve at the start of the second and two in the final game of the match.
By contrast, Krejcikova's serve got better and better as the match went on. She won 81% of her first-serve points overall and conceded only three points behind her delivery in the second set. It was an effective way to build on her promising fourth-round run in Cincinnati, the first time she had won three matches in one tournament since the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Moreover, a ranking far below Krejcikova's career high of No. 2 has not bothered her in the past: she won both of her major titles, Roland Garros 2021 and Wimbledon 2024, while ranked outside the Top 30. Could she keep that pattern going in Flushing Meadows?
Afterward, Krejcikova paid tribute to her opponent, whom she had watched defeat four Grand Slam champions en route to the Montreal title.
"It's huge what she achieved already and how well she played," she said in her on-court interview. "When I was watching, I was really happy that she made it because it was a huge victory for her, so good luck to her."
On her own state of health, she responded with the caginess of one who has been through more than her fair share of issues.
"As of now, yes," she said. "I don't know what it's going to be tomorrow -- but as of now, yes!"
The 29-year-old will next face Japan's Moyuka Uchijima, who Sunday snapped a 10-match losing streak by saving seven match points to defeat Olga Danilovic 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6[9].