US Open 2026 pages
Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 128
Lucie Havlickova vs 
Anna Bondar
Sunday, August 30, 2026 · Round of 128
Watch: ESPN · ESPN2 · ABC · ESPN app
My pick: Anna Bondar to advance · locked 2026-08-29 01:40 UTCPrediction
Bondar is 70th and 23–22 on the season — a genuine workhorse year — with 131 career hard-court matches; Havlíčková is a 21-year-old qualifier ranked 225th who is 1–4 at tour level with a 3–8 hard-court record. The winner gets Madison Keys or Alina Korneeva, which is a reason to enjoy this one on its own terms. Bondar in two.
The case for Lucie Havlickova
30% to winHavlíčková is 21 and has just won three matches on these courts; the ranking is a snapshot of a career that is still starting. Bondar's 23–22 record is barely a winning season.
The case for Anna Bondar
70% to winOne hundred and fifty-five ranking places, a second round here in 2025, and 131 career hard-court matches to 11. Bondar plays long rallies well and rarely beats herself, which is the fastest way to end a qualifier's week.
Both cases written 2026-08-29, before the first ball — frozen into the record exactly as written, whatever the result. The percentages are mine — opinions with a percent sign on. They add to 100 because tennis has no draw to hide the rounding in.
Tale of the tape
Lucie HavlickovaAnna BondarPlayer vitals: US Open official player feed (usopen.org) and Tennis Abstract career match logs · as of 2026-08-28.
Career head-to-head: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-28.
The briefing
Storylines
- Havlíčková, 21, is playing her first US Open main draw.
- A 155-place ranking gap — No. 70 against No. 225.
- The winner meets Madison Keys or Alina Korneeva in the second round.
Head to head
They have never met.
Source: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-28.
Watch: Opening-round coverage runs across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, with ESPN Deportes in Spanish — and every court streams in the ESPN app, including the whip-around channel that only exists in the early rounds. (ESPN press-room release and listings, as of 2026-08-27)
Court & schedule: Not yet assigned. Days one and two of the main draw are on the board; this match falls in the back half of the first round, and the US Open posts each day's order of play the evening before. (Official US Open order-of-play release cadence, as of 2026-08-28)
Weather: The forecast cooled since the draw: Sunday opens partly sunny near 80°F with a slight shower chance after 2 p.m., and a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms arrives with Sunday night. Monday is similar at 81°F, and the storm odds climb through Tuesday and Wednesday. Ashe and Armstrong close their roofs; the field courts wait. (National Weather Service New York forecast, as of 2026-08-28)
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York — hard.
At this Stage
The Round of 128 is the widest the net ever gets: 64 matches a draw, spread across three days, every seed in action and every qualifier playing the biggest match of the year. This half of the bracket filled in late — qualifying ran a day long after rain pushed the last round to Friday, so these names were still blank slots on draw night. First-round losers leave with $140,000. The winner draws Keys or Korneeva in the Round of 64.
