Kazakhstani tennis player Alexander Bublik (16) got off to a winning start at the 2026 US Open, defeating American wildcard Jeffrey John Wolf (285) in the first round. The match ended 6:4, 6:2, 3:6, 6:1 in favor of the 15th seed, reports infohub.kz.
The first two sets went according to Bublik's plan: in the opener, one break was enough (6:4), and in the second set he broke his opponent twice to extend his lead (6:2). However, Wolf brought the match back to life in the third set, converting three break points to take it 6:3. The American could not build on that momentum, as Bublik dropped just one game in the fourth set (6:1).
The match statistics highlight Bublik's confident performance: he fired 18 aces to Wolf's four, though he did commit ten double faults. He won 80% of points on his first serve and 76% on his second. Notably, he dominated on return of his opponent's second serve, winning 26 of 45 such points. Overall, he converted seven of eight break points, while Wolf managed three of eight.
This was the first meeting between the two since Wimbledon 2023, where Bublik also defeated the American in straight sets. In the second round of the US Open 2026, Bublik will face the winner of the match between Thiago Agustín Tirante (42) and Adrian Mannarino (67).
In the women's draw, Kazakhstan will be represented by Elena Rybakina (2) and Yulia Putintseva (80). They will face American Teya Frodin (580) and Swiss Belinda Bencic (12) respectively in the opening round.
Earlier, Kazakhstan's second-ranked player Alexander Shevchenko (97) exited in the first round, losing in five sets to Croatian Dino Prižmić (6:2, 3:6, 3:6, 7:5, 5:7), despite having two match points.
The US Open is an annual hard-court Grand Slam tournament, the last of the four majors in the calendar year. For the second consecutive year, the US Open, first held in August 1881, starts a week earlier due to the rescheduled mixed doubles event. The total prize money of $108 million is a record for the majors. Since 1978, matches have been played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
The defending men's champion is Spain's Carlos Alcaraz (3), who defeated Jannik Sinner 6:2, 3:6, 6:1, 6:4 in last year's final. Incidentally, the Italian, ranked No. 1 in the world, withdrew from the 2026 US Open due to a knee injury. In the women's event, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka is the 2025 champion, having beaten American Amanda Anisimova 6:3, 7:6 (7:3) in the final.