Wild Cards Michelsen, Mmoh and Isner Advance to US Open Second Round; National 18s Doubles Champions Debut Wednesday; ITF PanAmerican Closed J300 Acceptances

After a disappointing first day at the US Open for American wild cards, all three playing in the men's singles today advanced to the second round in straight sets.

John Isner, who recently announced his retirement after this tournament, is facing the prospect each match he plays being his last on the ATP Tour. Playing on Louis Armstrong Stadium today, Isner extended his career for at least another match, beating Facundo Diaz Acosta(ARG) 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(1). At his post match press conference, Isner spoke about the emotions he was feeling as he faces the end of his time on the Tour.

Yeah, I mean, it's a little bit emotional. I think in a sense it's helping me free up a little bit. If I didn't win that match, it would be tough. I'm very resolute in my decision to retire. There's no doubts about that.

I've just got to try to empty the bucket here. One of the reasons I'm retiring is because my body is really sort of feeling it. I know why right now, too. It's not like it was five, six, 10, 12 years ago, so...

But still alive. Got a lot of adrenaline keeping me going. We'll see what I can do.

Isner will play fellow wild card Michael Mmoh next, after the 2016 Kalamazoo 18s champion defeated No. 11 seed and 2022 US Open semifinalist Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. According to the ATP, it's the third time this year that Mmoh has beaten a Top 20 player in a slam; Mmoh defeated No. 13 Alexander Zverev in the second round of the Australian Open and beat No. 12 Auger-Aliassime in the first round at Wimbledon.

Alex Michelsen is the youngest wild card to advance, with the newly minted 19-year-old defeating Spanish veteran Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 for his first slam victory in his first slam appearance. Now 115 in the live rankings, Michelsen has had a trajectory this year that might see him avoid having to every qualify for a slam, a rarity for sure.

On the women's side, all three wild cards--Venus Williams, Robin Montgomery and Ashlyn Kreuger--lost in straight sets. 2022 NCAA champion Peyton Stearns(Texas) won her first US Open match, defeating Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-4. Qualifier Sachia Vickery upset No. 21 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.

There are six men and six women from the United States playing second round matches Wednesday, while the first round of men's women's and several mixed doubles matches also get underway.

USTA National 18s champions Alex Frusina and Adhithya Ganesan put their 11-match winning streak on the line against Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia and Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands at 11 a.m. on Court 13.

USTA National 18s champions Olivia Center and Kate Fakih take on No. 6 seeds Taylor Townsend and Leylah Fernandez of Canada fourth on Court 10.

2022 Kalamazoo champions Ethan Quinn and Nicholas Godsick are fourth on Court 12 against 2019 US Open and Wimbledon champions Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal of Colombia.

The mixed doubles draw was released this morning, and with a quarter of the teams wild cards, there are some interesting entrants. Quinn is playing with Krueger, Michelsen with Montgomery, Coco Gauff is partnering with the retiring Jack Sock, and Maria Mateas and Mackenzie McDonald, who are a couple off the court as well.

Stearns is partnering with Rajeev Ram and did not need a wild card; Jessica Pegula and Austin Krajicek are the top seeds, with Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski seeded No. 2.

Tuesday first round matches results of Americans:

Peyton Stearns d. Viktoriya Tomova(BUL) 6-3 6-4

Liudmila Samsonova[14](RUS) d. Claire Liu 7-6(3), 6-3 

Madison Keys[17] d. Arantxa Rus(NED) 6-2, 6-4

Jessica Pegula[3] d. Camila Giorgi(ITA) 6-2, 6-2

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova(RUS) d. Fiona Crawley[Q] 6-2, 6-4

Linda Noskova(CZE) d. Madison Brengle 6-2, 6-1

Marie Bouzkova[31](CZE) d. Ashlyn Krueger[WC] 7-5, 6-4 

Eva Lys[Q](GER) d. Robin Montgomery[WC] 6-2, 6-1

Daria Kasatkina[13](RUS) d. Alycia Parks 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 

Sofia Kenin d. Ana Bogdan(ROU) 7-6(2), 6-4

Greet Minnen[Q] d. Venus Williams[WC] 6-1, 6-1

Sachia Vickery[Q] d. Donna Vekic[21](CRO) 2-6, 7-5, 6-2

Clara Burel(FRA) d. Caroline Dolehide 6-4, 6-3

Lorenzo Sonego(ITA) d. Nicolas Moreno De Alboran[Q] 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 

Alex Michelsen[WC] d. Albert Ramos-Vinolas(ESP) 6-4, 6-3, 6-4

Michael Mmoh[WC] d. Karen Khachanov[11](RUS) 6-2, 6-4, 6-2

John Isner[WC] d. Facundo Diaz Acosta(ARG) 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(1)

Wednesday's second round matches featuring Americans:

Coco Gauff[6] v Mirra Andreeva(RUS)

Danielle Collins v Elise Mertens[32](BEL)

Lauren Davis v Kaja Juvan[Q](SLO)

Bernarda Pera v Xiyu Wang(CHN)

Taylor Townsend v Beatriz Haddad Maia[19](BRA)

Jennifer Brady v Magda Linette[24](POL)

Frances Tiafoe[10] v Sebastian Ofner(AUT)

Ben Shelton v Dominic Thiem(AUT)

Taylor Fritz[9] v Juan Pablo Varillas(PER)

Mackenzie McDonald v Borna Gojo[Q](CRO)

Christopher Eubanks[28] v Benjamin Bonzi[WC](FRA)

Tommy Paul[14] v Roman Safiullin(RUS)

The ITF PanAmerican Closed J300, which is usually in October, has moved up to September this year, beginning just a week after the conclusion of the US Open Junior Championships. With the participants confined to North, Central and South America, the fields are not as strong as most J300s, but quite a few ITF top 50 players have entered. Kaylan Bigun, Roy Horovitz, Alex Razeghi and Alex Frusina are the boys in that category; Kaitlin Quevedo, Iva Jovic, Tyra Grant and Ariana Pursoo are the girls. Quevedo, Jovic and Grant have all been kept from competing for significant amounts of time this summer with injuries, although all are still on the acceptance list for next week's US Open Junior Championships.