Keys Beats Korneeva at US Open

Madison Keys beat Alina Korneeva 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the 2026 US Open on Tuesday under a closed Arthur Ashe Stadium roof. The No. 22 seed finally cleared the round that ended her Flushing run a year ago, when Renata Zarazua knocked her out in Round 1.

It looked tidy on the scoreboard. It was messy in the middle. Ten of the 22 games went against serve. Keys still had the bigger weapons when it mattered. She had lost only six of her previous 52 Grand Slam first-round matches. The most recent of those six was right here. Tuesday closed that loop.

Winners, errors, and match points

Keys hit 21 winners to Korneeva's seven and made 30 unforced errors to 26, per Tennis Majors. She converted six of eight break points and saved two of six. She held only seven of 11 service games, landed 57 percent of first serves, and served five double faults. She still took 75 of the 143 points played.

Korneeva, 19 and making her US Open main-draw debut, saved the first match point. Keys needed a second. That was the whole afternoon under the roof: not clean, still done.

Why the first set mattered

Korneeva had won the first set in 11 of her 12 career tour-level wins, and nine of those wins were straight sets. Once Keys took the opener 7-5, the pattern broke. The Russian teenager reached a career-high World No. 67 last week and already owns five top-50 wins this season. She could not invent a comeback once the first set left.

Keys is playing her 15th US Open and her 53rd Grand Slam main draw. She was runner-up here in 2017, then a semifinalist in 2018 and 2023. She won the 2025 Australian Open. Tuesday was just about not repeating last year's early exit.

Who waits in Round 2

Next is the winner between Czech qualifier Lucie Havlickova and Hungarian Anna Bondar. Naomi Osaka already got through her opener on the other side of the women's draw.

Keys also won nine of 15 points at the net. Her 2026 hard-court ledger sat at 12-8 coming in, with quarterfinals at Cincinnati, Adelaide, and Brisbane, plus an Eastbourne grass title. Since 2016 only Elina Svitolina and Iga Swiatek have matched her stretch of ten or more Grand Slam wins in seven separate seasons. Tuesday was not about that resume. It was about not losing Round 1 again at her home Slam. She did not.