Karen Khachanov loses heavily to Alex de Minaur at the US Open

Match recap

For de Minaur, the victory represents a successful start to the year's final Grand Slam tournament. The Australian, who is ranked considerably lower than Khachanov in the world rankings, took the opportunities that came his way consistently and has gained significant confidence for the subsequent rounds.

The match began on even terms. In the first set, both players engaged in long rallies before Khachanov edged the tiebreak. After that, however, de Minaur raised his level, varied the pace and spin consistently, and repeatedly forced his opponent into errors.

Impact on the world rankings

The early exit comes at an inopportune time for Khachanov. With the season finale in November still ahead on the calendar, a number of important ranking points are still up for grabs, and his elimination in New York now makes that task more difficult. For the German tennis scene around Alexander Zverev as well, this result creates changed dynamics in the battle for the world ranking positions.

On the women's side, the first day of the tournament largely proceeded as expected for the favorites. Iga Swiatek, the current world number one, is still in contention in the remaining rounds, as are local favorite Coco Gauff and the Americans Madison Keys and Taylor Fritz. Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, had also won her first-round match without dropping a set.

State of play in the women's draw

Khachanov had struggled repeatedly with inconsistent form in the lead-up to the US Open. His strongest Grand Slam result to date had been a semifinal appearance at the 2025 French Open, and he had hoped to build on that in New York. Instead, his tournament is over after just 48 hours.

De Minaur will face an opponent yet to be determined in the next round. Should he reach the round of 16, he could potentially meet a seeded player there — a scenario that had seemed unlikely before the tournament began.

For the US Open seedings, the result marks another shake-up in the field. With the elimination of the fourth seed, the number of unseeded players who can reach the quarterfinals rises significantly — a circumstance that could alter the dynamic of the entire tournament.