Spizzirri Beats Dostanic for First Win at Major as US Open Begins; 2022 USO Girls Champion Eala Makes History Again; Twenty-Three Americans Play First Round Matches Monday

Generally the Sunday before the US Open gives me a brief chance to recover from my week covering the ITF J300 in College Park, but with the new Sunday start, I had to immediately turn my attention to the match between wild cards Eliot Spizzirri(Texas) and Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest). I had expected, with the form Dostanic had shown last week at the Winston-Salem Open, that the match would be close, certainly four sets, but Spizzirri prevailed in three close sets 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(4). Spizzirri, who received a main draw wild card at the last minute when Brandon Holt(USC) got in  on his own, was just slightly more opportunistic, converting 4 of 13 break chances, while Dostanic was 2 of 10.

Spizzirri, who qualified in New York last year, but lost to Alex Michelsen in the first round, lost in the second round of qualifying at the three previous majors this year, so this marks his first win at a slam.

The biggest upset of the day was also a stunning comeback, with Alexandra Eala of the Philippines defeating No. 14 seed Clara Tauson of Denmark 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(11). The 20-year-old left-hander. who won the the US Open girls title in 2022, trailed 5-1 in the third set, but fought back to become the first player from the Philippines to win a match at a major. 

In that 2022 girls final, her support from the local Filipino community was instrumental to her win, and I can only imagine what it was like on Grandstand today as she began her comeback. From my coverage of that final:

Eala addressed the Filipino community on site in the post-match ceremony in her native language and by the end of her brief remarks, she was overcome with emotion.

"In the speech I just  thanked my family and everyone who prayed and everyone who supported, and of course my sponsors," said Eala, who has won two junior slam doubles titles, at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 Roland Garros. "I also said that I fought with my heart for this trophy, that it's not just my win, it's all of our wins. I said that I did this not just for myself; I did it so I could help Philippines tennis."

For more on today's match, see this article from usopen.org.

Sunday's US Open first round results of Americans

Ben Shelton[6] d. Ignacio Buse[Q](PER) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Novak Djokovic[7](SRB) d. Learner Tien 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2

Taylor Fritz[4] d. Emilio Nava[WC] 7-5, 6-2, 6-3

Brandon Nakashima[30] d. Jesper de Jong[Q](NED) 6-2, 6-7(5), 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(7)

Eliot Spizzirri[WC] d. Stefan Dostanic[WC] 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(4)

Marcos Giron d. Mariano Navone(ARG) 6-0, 7-5, 4-6, 5-7, 6-4

Jerome Kym(SUI)[Q] d. Ethan Quinn 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5)

Zachary Svadja[Q] d. Zsombor Piros([Q]HUN) 6-4, 6-2, 7-5

Jessica Pegula[4] d. Mayar Sherif(EGY) 6-0, 6-4

Emma Navarro[10] d. Yafan Wang(CHN) 7-6(9), 6-3

McCartney Kessler[32] d. Magda Linette(POL) 7-5, 7-5

Caty McNally[WC] d. Jil Teichmann(SUI) 6-2, 6-2

Victoria Azarenka(BLR) d. Hina Inoue[Q] 7-6(0), 6-4

Tomorrow there are 23 Americans in first round singles action, and I'm going to be focusing on the 11 a.m. match between qualifier Martin Damm and Kalamazoo 18s champion Darwin Blanch, while also watching San Diego 18s champion Alyssa Ahn, 16-year-old Julieta Pareja and 17-year-old Iva Jovic.

Monday's US Open first round matches featuring Americans:

Madison Keys[6] v Renata Zarazua(MEX)

Venus Williams[WC] v Karolina Muchova[11](CZE)

Alycia Parks v Mirra Andreeva[5](RUS)

Alyssa Ahn[WC] v Elise Mertens[19](BEL)

Katie Volynets[Q] v Zeynep Sonmez(TUR)

Iva Jovic v Aliaksandra Sasnovich(BLR)

Taylor Townsend v Antonia Ruzic(CRO)

Peyton Stearns v Darja Semenistaja(LAT)

Clervie Ngounoue[WC] v Anna Kalinskaya[29](RUS)

Ann Li v Rebecca Sramkova(SVK)

Claire Liu[Q] v Cristina Bucsa(ESP)

Juliet Pareja[WC] v Elena Rybakina[9](KAZ) 

Francis Tiafoe[17] v Yoshihito Nishioka(JPN)

Reilly Opelka v Carlos Alcaraz[2](ESP)

Alex Michelsen[28] v Francisco Comesana[Q](ARG)

Tristan Boyer[WC] v James Duckworth[LL](AUS)

Martin Damm[Q] v Darwin Blanch[WC]

Jenson Brooksby v Aleksandar Vukic(AUS)

Mackenzie McDonald v Jan-Lennard Struff[Q](GER)

Aleksandar Kovacevic v Coleman Wong[Q](HKG)

Sebastian Korda v Cameron Norrie

Nishesh Basavareddy[WC] v Karen Khachanov[9](RUS)