The Latest: 2018 champ Osaka edges Doi in 3 sets at US Open

Naomi Osaka, of Japan, wears a mask in honor of Breonna Taylor before her match against Misaki Doi, of Japan, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) (Frank Franklin, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

NEW YORK – The Latest on the U.S. Open tennis tournament (all times local):

11:55 p.m.

Recommended Videos



Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka managed to overcome her own uneven play to pull out a three-set victory over Misaki Doi in an all-Japanese matchup in the first round of the U.S. Open.

The No. 4-seeded Osaka’s movement was an issue at times but she managed to win 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 against the 81st-ranked Doi in an empty Arthur Ashe Stadium as midnight approached.

Osaka made 38 unforced errors, 13 more than her winner total.

Osaka is coming off a left hamstring injury that forced her to withdraw from the final of the Western & Southern Open on Saturday.

___

11:25 p.m.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is headed to a third set against Misaki Doi in the first round of the U.S. Open.

Osaka took the first set in Arthur Ashe Stadium by a 6-2 score, but Doi evened things by grabbing the second 7-5.

Osaka is seeded No. 4 at Flushing Meadows, where she won the title in 2018. She also won the 2019 Australian Open. But she is coming off a left hamstring injury that forced her to withdraw from the final of the Western & Southern Open on Saturday.

Doi is ranked 81st, never has been past the fourth round at any Grand Slam tournament and came into Monday night with a 1-7 career record at the U.S. Open. She also entered with an 0-17 mark against opponents ranked in the top 10.

___

10:50 p.m.

Steve Johnson knocked off 16th-seeded John Isner 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (3) to advance to the second round of the U.S. Open in a match that stretched 3 hours, 50 minutes.

Seventh-seeded David Goffin held on to beat Reilly Opelka 7-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 and 19th-seeded Taylor Fritz topped Dominik Koepfer 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

The 6-foot-11 Opelka is tied as the tallest Top-50 player in ATP rankings history. Fritz, the second highest-ranked American, was the 2015 U.S. Open boys' singles champion.

Just 15 years old, Robin Montgomery lost on Day 1. The youngest player in the field, she lost as a wild-card entry. The 23rd-seeded Yulia Putintseva beat Montgomery 6-1, 6-3 in 64 minutes.

___

9:55 p.m.

Naomi Osaka wore a black mask with the name of Breonna Taylor emblazoned across the front before the start of her U.S. Open match.

Osaka tweeted during the Western & Southern Open that she was exhausted and “sick” over the many Black people killed by police. She had decided to withdraw from the tournament as a statement in support of racial justice, joining athletes in other sports. Other tennis players expressed support and the tournament was halted for one day,

Osaka, the 2018 U.S. Open champion, wore the mask for Taylor, a Black woman killed by police this spring.

___

9:30 p.m.

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic breezed past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 at the U.S. Open.

Djokovic is the overwhelming favorite to win his fourth men’s championship and he cruised in his first-round matchup at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Djokovic pounded his chest and raised his racket in the air, keeping his celebratory routine intact even without fans in the stadium.

Djokovic is 24-0 in 2020 and has won 18 of his last 19 matches overall in Grand Slam tournaments.

___

6:30 p.m.

Coco Gauff is out of the U.S. Open on Day 1.

Anastasija Sevastova knocked off the 16-year-old Gauff in three sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

It was Gauff's earliest exit from a Grand Slam tournament in four appearances. A year ago, Gauff made it to the third round at Flushing Meadows before losing to 2018 champion Naomi Osaka in a match that ended in tears for the teen and a hug from the winner.

Sevastova had been just 1-8 in singles in 2020 and got the breakthrough win she needed again in New York. Sevastova was a semifinalist at the U.S. Open two years ago.

Gauff had 13 double-faults.

___

3:45 p.m.

No. 9 seed Diego Schwartzman blew a two-set lead and was knocked out of the U.S. Open in the first round.

He led 2-0 but appeared to have problems with cramps as he lost to Cameron Norrie 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 in a match that took nearly 4 hours.

___

1:30 p.m.

Top-seeded Karolina Pliskova has advanced in straight sets at the U.S. Open.

Pliskova surged ahead of Anhelina Kalinina 4-1 in the opening set, lost three games in a row, then took the last eight for a 6-4, 6-0 victory. She had a 26-7 edge in winners.

Pliskova is ranked third in the world but has the top seed in New York.

___

12:50 p.m.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber is sticking around longer at Flushing Meadows than she did a year ago.

Kerber eliminated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-4 in a nearly empty Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Kerber won the 2016 U.S. Open but lost in the first round a year ago. She used to be ranked No. 1 and is seeded 17th in New York.

___

12:15 p.m.

Marketa Vondrousova is the first winner of a match at the 2020 U.S. Open — and of any Grand Slam match since early February.

The 2019 French Open runner-up, who is seeded 12th in New York, beat Greet Minnen 6-1, 6-4.

___

11:20 a.m.

Grand Slam tennis is back in action for the first time in nearly seven full months as the U.S. Open gets started without spectators amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Angelique Kerber, the 2016 champion at Flushing Meadows, is facing Ajla Tomljanovic in the first match in Louis Armstrong Stadium.

There are about 15 people, including reporters, scattered in the stands of an arena that holds about 14,000.

The No. 1-seeded woman, Karolina Pliskova, will face Anhelina Kalinina later Monday in the first match in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka are scheduled to play at night.

The professional tennis tours were on hiatus from March until August because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The last Grand Slam matches were at the Australian Open, which ended in early February. The French Open was postponed from May to late September, and Wimbledon was canceled for the first time since World War II.

___

More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports