Rybakina routs teen phenom Pareja 6-3, 6-0 in US Open first round

Elena Rybakina, the world #10 and 2022 Wimbledon champion, has recently found form and reasserted her dominance. During the summer hardcourt swing, she lost in the semis to the eventual champion in DC, Montreal, and Cincinnati (Fernandez, Mboko, Swiatek). The 2023 Australian Open finalist and Indian Wells champion looked sharp in her opening match on Stadium 17 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Julieta Pareja from the United States is currently ranked #335. The Carlsbad, Californian, just sixteen, was awarded a wild card for the season’s final slam. In her grand slam debut, Pareja won the toss and elected to receive.

Rybakina opened with a monster serve up the tee and with a brilliant backhand crosscourt, held to love. Pareja opened with two consecutive double faults, three in total, faced three deuce points and a break point, yet held with grit and poise under pressure.

 Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

The 9th seed struck her first ace and held easily to 15 while Pareja missed 4/6 first serves, including two additional double faults and dumped serve.
Rybakina consolidated the break at love with an ace out wide and a blistering backhand down the line. Pareja made 4/4 first serves and held to love for 2-4 with a deft forehand drop shot and a spectacular inside-out forehand off the return.

Following three unforced errors from her opponent, Rybakina once again held at love to lead 5-2. Pareja served with new balls to stay in the set. She battled valiantly as she faced three deuce and two break points, yet held despite gifting three additional double faults!

The former world #3 opened the ninth with a huge serve up the tee and her first double fault, but with three outstanding winners, including an ace out wide, she clinched the set 6-3.
Pareja served first in the second and was broken at love. Rybakina missed 3/5 first serves but held to 15 to consolidate the break for 2-0. Pareja missed 3/6 first serves, faced a break point, and dropped serve when Rybakina crushed a forehand crosscourt.

The 26-year-old Kazakh struck three consecutive aces and consolidated the break for 4-0. Although inexperienced, Pareja competed admirably. As the unforced errors continued to accrue, so did the break points. She faced three deuce and three break points and, with her 9th double fault, conceded the game.

Rybakina served for the match up 5-0. She may have opened with a double fault, but secured victory with her seventh ace. She did not face a break point and was stupendous on serve, winning 100% of first serves and 65% of second serve points. She converted 4/9 break points and struck sixteen winners to nineteen unforced errors.

In the second round, she will battle another talented teen, Tereza Valentova. The eighteen-year-old from the Czech Republic reached the second round at Roland Garros this season (l. Gauff) and achieved a career high rank of #96. Having come through qualies in Flushing Meadows, she is clearly feeling confident on the NYC hardcourts. This will be their first tour-level meeting with a spot in the third round up for grabs.