Lucy and Eugene recap Day 1 at the US Open, which fell on a Sunday for the first time.

Ben Shelton opened proceedings on Arthur Ashe, seeing off Peruvian qualifier Ignacio Buse in straight sets – 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. The American sixth seed was untroubled and looked locked in from the first ball and handled business the way a top-10 seed should in the opening round of a Grand Slam.

Afterwards, in a nod to the celebrations taking place to celebrate trailblazer Althea Gibson at this year’s US Open, Shelton was asked whether his father and coach, Bryan Shelton ever spoke about any racial issues he faced growing up as an aspiring professional. 

Buse spoke about how difficult it was to get a read on the American’s serve that was not only coming in with pace, but also different variations.

In our second and final match of the day, Jasmine Paolini took care of business against Australian qualifier Destanee Aiava, winning 6-2, 7-6(4) on Louis Armstrong. The seventh-seeded Italian, steamrolled the first set, before going down an early break in the second. But in typical Paolini fashion, the Italian No 1 broke back immediately, firming up her game before closing out the match in the tiebreak.

Afterwards, Aiava shared her surprise at the weight of the Italian’s groundstrokes. We asked Paolini about her thoughts on the Sunday start.

To close, we talk about Serena Williams introducing Maria Sharapova for the Russian’s Tennis Hall of Fame induction and run through the matchups we are looking forward to on Day 2.

Listen and watch out for post-match press snippets from Shelton, Buse, Aiava and Paolini.

Credits: US Open Tennis Championships