Sofia Kenin defeats Venus Williams in latest-starting match in US Open women's history

American wildcard Sofia Kenin beat 46-year-old compatriot Venus Williams 6-2, 7-6(6) in a US Open first-round match that began past midnight in New York, the latest start in women’s tournament history.

The match at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday got under way after Novak Djokovic’s loss to Mariano Navone in five sets, with a sizable contingent of fans staying on well past midnight for one more look at Williams, who was playing as a wildcard in her 96th career Grand Slam main draw appearance.

“It was extremely late,” Williams told reporters. “I’ve never played a match that late before, and I was happy to see that so many people stuck around for that. It was a real honour to play in front of them.”

Kenin broke serve in the opening game and never trailed in the first set, racing to a 3-0 lead as both players struggled to find their rhythm, combining for nine double faults.

Williams, cheered on by chants of “Let’s go Venus”, broke back to love to trim the deficit to 3-1 but dropped serve again as Kenin pulled away to close out the set.

Kenin reeled off three straight games to lead 3-1 in the second set, and while Williams showed flashes of the form that earned her seven Grand Slam titles, she struggled to string points together, with her second serve proving especially costly.

Kenin saved four break points to level at 5-5, leaving Williams screaming in frustration at handing her opponent another game with unforced errors. However, Williams still found a way to hold for 6-5 before Kenin forced a tiebreak.

Williams appeared to have the upper hand in the tiebreak but could not convert any of her seven set points, as Kenin dug in to close out the win.

“It’s not ideal,” Williams said. “I would have preferred something else, definitely. It wasn’t great for either of us, so I think we both tried our best.

“I just don’t know any other sport where you have to start that late. I definitely think there’s room for improvement there.

“It’s not easy to do in the first round. It’s not easy to do it at 1 or 2 in the morning to try to find your rhythm and play your best, but I tried my best.”

Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, will next face top-ranked American Jessica Pegula.

Meanwhile, former champion Daniil Medvedev and Pegula advanced with little fuss earlier in the day, as players began their campaigns to grab a slice of the record prize purse of $108m up for grabs.

Russian Medvedev had crashed out in a chaotic first-round defeat a year ago but was all business on Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, downing French qualifier Hugo Gaston 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to quieten doubts after a frustrating run-up to the tournament.

“The last couple of weeks were not easy,” said Medvedev, who exited the Cincinnati and Montreal tournaments early. “I’m happy that today I managed to produce high-level tennis.”

Dozens of ticketholders were lined up long before the action kicked off, and the home crowd was rewarded as world number three Pegula beat Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-2 in the first match at the showpiece stadium.

Twice Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova earlier became the first seeded player to exit the tournament, saving six match points before succumbing to Kamilla Rakhimova 7-6(4), 6-2 on the outer courts.

Italian Jasmine Paolini survived a scare to beat Slovenia’s Veronika Erjavec 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the opener at Louis Armstrong Stadium to set up a meeting with compatriot Lucre Lucrezia Stefanini.

Czech Jiri Lehecka kicked off the action on the Grandstand with a 6-1, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2 win over Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta before Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk swatted aside Australian Storm Hunter 6-4, 6-1 at the same stadium.

Kostyuk was joined in the next round by compatriot Elina Svitolina, who eased past Solana Sierra 6-1, 6-2.

Former champion Marin Cilic and 2022 runner-up Casper Ruud pulled out due to injuries shortly after the tournament got under way.