 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 Aug 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 Aug 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 Aug 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 Aug 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Sep 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 Aug 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 Aug 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 Aug 2008 |
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| 31 Aug 2008 - New York - Eleanor Preston | |
| Kamenskaya scores the biggest win of her career |
The US Open kicked off today in New York with a shock first round defeat for the girls top seed Arantxa Rus from the Netherlands at the hands of Russia's Valeria Kamenskaya. The 16 year old was overjoyed with her first round win over the World No.1:
"I feel so so happy. I beat the No.1 player in the world, it is for sure the best win of my life! I was so nervous, I had two match points at 40-15 and I was shaking so much that I could hardly serve. But at deuce I said to myself I must concentrate, I can do this. I'm just so happy."
American Madison Brengle also got her US Open off to the perfect start with an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 win over tenth seed Cindy Chala of France.
“For sure she is a really good player and she’s lefty so it’s a bit different from what I’m used to. It was good to get through it,” said Brengle. “Today I had a good time and I played well.”
Eighteen-year-old Brengle, who was runner-up in the junior grand slams at the Australian Open and Wimbledon last year, is hoping to sign off her junior career with victory at the tournament she has always dreamed about playing. “Ever since the very first Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day like, way, way back, I always used to say that I really, really wanted to play here so it’s great for me to play here after that,” said Brengle. “You hear the crowd support and particularly if you are playing a foreign player then it’s all for you. There’s a lot of energy.”
Brengle admits that her love of her home grand slam means that she has put too much pressure on herself in the past. She says she learned from last year’s first round defeat in the juniors and is ready to make far more of an impact at what will be her last junior grand slam. She turned professional last year and has already been making some headway up the WTA rankings, so she feels far more in control of her emotions this time around.
“I’m just here to have a good time, be a little more relaxed this time. When I played last year it was a disaster because I was so nervous,” said Brengle. “This time I want to calm down a little bit. That experience definitely helped me. I didn’t even look at the draw and I didn’t even know who I was going to play until today. I just went out there and played well. It’s pretty important to me to do well in my last junior grand slam. I just want to play well here. The result is whatever it’s going to be and I can’t predict my tournament but I’ll take it one match at a time and do my best.”
Brengle has even gone blonde and is hoping that her change of hair colour might also bring her good luck at Flushing Meadows. “My hair changes every month so I’ll let you know what it is next month,” she said, with a laugh. “Actually I kind of like being blonde, except that I think I need to make it a little bit more blonde because it’s a bit orange at the moment. Someone said it was like a Cheeto so I’m going to be changing that!”
In other girls’ results on day one of the Junior US Open, American Asia Muhammad knocked out Australian 14th seed Johanna Konta. Veronica Cepede of Paraguay also caused an upset when she beat Aki Yamasoto of Japan in three sets.
In the boys’ competition, Argentina’s Guido Pella was also amongst the winners on day one when he upset seventh seeded Jose Pereira of Brazil 6-2, 6-3 in an all-South American battle. “It was a very difficult match,” said Pella. “He played very good and he is a very dangerous player because he strikes the ball very hard. It was my first match here but I think I played great. It makes me ready for the tournament but all the matches are the same because I want to win them all; but today was a special match because he plays very good. For me it gives me more confidence for the next match.”
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