{
  "id": 4523428,
  "title": "Pegula cruises, Krejcikova crashes out as US Open begins",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/30/pegula-cruises-krejcikova-crashes-out-as-us-open-begins-4523428",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-30T22:21:39.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/sports/2026/08/31/pegula-cruises-krejcikova-crashes-out-as-us-open-begins"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "At Flushing Meadows, the US Open kicked off with Jessica Pegula, the top-ranked American, sweeping past Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, at Arthur Ashe Stadium. This marked the first round of play, featuring a record $108 million prize pool. The sport's highest-ranked player will now face the winner of Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin's match. Pegula's opponent, 27th-seeded Barbora Krejcikova, exited the tournament in a dramatic fashion, saving six match points before losing to Uzbekistan's Kamilla Rakhimova, 7-6(4), 6-2. Rakhimova, who has yet to reach the third round at the majors, will face the winner of a match between Japan's Aoi Ito and Spain's Oksana Selekhmeteva. In another match, Jasmine Paolini, an Italian and 2024 Wimbledon and French Open finalist, survived a scare against Slovenia's Veronika Erjavec, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, and will play a winner from a later match between her compatriot Lucrezia Stefanini and Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska. Disruptions to the field included Czech Jiri Lehecka's 6-1, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2 victory over Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta and Casper Ruud's withdrawal due to a back injury. This year's US Open, running for a second year in 15 days, saw guests flock to Flushing Meadows despite pristine playing conditions. The tournament also announced an additional day to the schedule due to high demand.",
  "summary": "American world No 3 Jessica Pegula rewards the home crowd with a win as Barbora Krejcikova becomes the first seeded player to exit.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "US Open begins under sunny skies",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/30/us-open-begins-under-sunny-skies",
        "published": "2026-08-30T15:16:58.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Pegula cruises, Krejcikova crashes out as US Open begins",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/30/pegula-cruises-krejcikova-crashes-out-as-us-open-begins-4523365",
        "published": "2026-08-30T22:21:39.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}