Cincinnati quarterfinalist Varvara Gracheva didn’t have much time to savor the best WTA 1000 run of her career to date. Three days after falling to Veronika Kudermetova in the last eight in Mason, Ohio, the Frenchwoman was out on Court 5 at Flushing Meadows, playing qualifying at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2020 Australian Open.
No. 6 seed Gracheva was able to sustain her strong form, though, holding off a first-set fightback from Madison Brengle to advance 7-5, 6-3. Former No. 35 Brengle was also making a meaningful comeback. The 35-year-old American had been sidelined between September 2023 and April this year after suffering a recurrence of skin cancer. She has returned to No. 879 in the PIF WTA Rankings this week, and was able to engage Gracheva in several entertaining cat-and-mouse exchanges.
Gracheva will next face Croatia’s Tara Wuerth, who defeated Arina Rodionova 6-1, 7-5.
Teenage talents Valentova, Marcinko, Jones continue strong form
Tereza Valentova soared into the Top 100 last month after winning two WTA 125 titles and reaching her first tour-level semifinal in Prague, on home soil. Now positioned at No. 92, the 18-year-old Czech No. 2 seed improved her 2025 record to 40-9 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Mona Barthel. She will next face Tatiana Prozorova, who defeated former Roland Garros semifinalist Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-3.
Former junior No. 1 Petra Marcinko, 19, is still bidding to reach her first Grand Slam main draw after struggling with injuries in 2024. But the Croatian No. 11 seed has been resurgent in recent months, winning the Rome WTA 125 and Landisville ITF W100 back-to-back. She extended her winning streak to 11 matches by racing past Gao Xinyu 6-2, 6-1 in just 56 minutes. Marcinko’s next opponent will be Alina Charaeva, who came through 6-3, 6-4 over 18-year-old American wild card Monika Ekstrand.
Emerson Jones, 17, scored the biggest upset of Day 1 by knocking out No. 10 seed Bernarda Pera 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. The Australian teenager is the highest-ranked player born in 2008 at No. 199, and the youngest player to receive direct entry into the qualifying draw. She will next take on former Bogota finalist Laura Pigossi, who saved a match point en route to overcoming Tamara Zidansek 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3 in a 3-hour, 37-minute barnburner.
Hontama, Marino to face each other after saving match points
Japan’s Mai Hontama and Canada’s Rebecca Marino fended off three match points each to advance on Day 1 — and will now face each other in the second round.
No. 181-ranked Hontama withstood a barrage of clean power from 15-year-old American wild card Kristina Penickova to come through 6-0, 4-6, 7-6[4] in 2 hours and 5 minutes. Hontama faced all three match points serving down 5-4 in the third set, and saved the first with a superb backhand winner on the line before playing more solid tennis in the home stretch. Nonetheless, junior No. 5 Penickova — who is No. 856 on the WTA rankings — impressed in taking her first set from a Top 200 player.
Meanwhile, No. 17 seed Marino denied Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 from 5-2 down in the third set. The 34-year-old former No. 38 leads her head-to-head with Hontama 2-1.
Nahimana makes history for Burundi despite loss
One of the last direct entrants to the qualifying draw was No. 224-ranked Sada Nahimana, who made history by becoming the first player from the central African nation of Burundi to compete in a Grand Slam qualifying draw. Earlier this year in Rabat, Nahimana had also become the first player from her country to win a WTA main-draw match. The 24-year-old fell 6-3, 6-4 to France’s Manon Leonard despite leading 3-0 in the second set.
Nahimana’s appearance marks the 13th time in the last 20 years that a player has become the first woman from their country to compete in a Grand Slam main or qualifying draw. Since 2005, the list is as follows:
2005 US Open qualifying, Lina Stanciute (Lithuania)
2008 US Open qualifying, Ksenia Palkina (Kyrgyzstan)
2009 US Open qualifying, María Fernanda Álvarez Terán (Bolivia)
2010 US Open qualifying, Cagla Buyukakcay (Türkiye)
2012 US Open qualifying, Stephanie Vogt (Liechtenstein)
2013 US Open qualifying, Danka Kovinic (Montenegro)
2016 US Open qualifying, Lina Gjorcheska (North Macedonia)
2020 Australian Open qualifying, Mayar Sherif (Egypt)
2021 Australian Open qualifying, Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (Andorra)
2022 Wimbledon qualifying, Raluka Serban (Cyprus)
2023 Australian Open qualifying, Alexandra Eala (Philippines)
2024 US Open main draw, Elina Avanesyan (Armenia)
2025 US Open qualifying, Sada Nahimana (Burundi)
