Jabeur, Harris through to U.S. Open second round as Anderson, Safwat crash out
Tunisian Ons Jabeur and South Africa’s Lloyd Harris are the remaining representatives from Africa at this year’s U.S. Open after posting victories in their respective first round matches.
Jabeur, seeded 27th, defeated Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6 to advance to the second round where she will face Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.
Harris also went through in straight sets past Italian Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 but will face a sterner test in the shape of Belgian 7th seed David Goffin in the next round.
Harris’ compatriot, Kevin Anderson, however, was not so luck as he lost out to fifth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany in four sets.
Anderson, a finalist at this event in 2017, was narrowly defeated going down 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, 5-7 in just over three hours.
Zverev said he was delighted with his first round performance which saw him improve his head-to-head record against Anderson to 6-0.
“Kevin is not someone you usually play in a first round. This is a fourth round, quarter-final, semi-final match normally against him. I am extremely happy to be through.”
Like Anderson, Egyptian Mohamed Safwat was also eliminated in the first round after a straight sets loss to veteran Frenchman Gilles Simon.
Safwat went down 1-6, 4-6, 4-6 ending the first appearance for an Egyptian in a US Open main draw in 1996.