US Open 2026 pages
Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 128
Elvina Kalieva vs 
Lanlana Tararudee
Sunday, August 30, 2026 · Round of 128
Watch: ESPN · ESPN2 · ABC · ESPN app
My pick: Lanlana Tararudee to advance · locked 2026-08-29 01:40 UTCPrediction
Tararudee is ranked 72nd and Kalieva is a 115th-ranked qualifier, and both are making their first US Open main-draw appearance — which makes the 207-point hard-court Elo gap the most reliable thing on the page. Kalieva has the better raw season record (15–11 to 10–9) and three qualifying wins here; Tararudee has the ranking, the seedless-but-solid top-75 level and fresher legs. Court 11 on Sunday. Tararudee in three.
The case for Elvina Kalieva
27% to winKalieva is 15–11 this season against Tararudee's 10–9, has three wins on these courts this week, and is playing in front of an American crowd. Their career hard-court records are nearly identical — 19–22 against 15–16.
The case for Lanlana Tararudee
73% to winForty-three ranking places and a 207-point hard-court Elo edge, without having spent the week in qualifying. Tararudee has been the better player against better opposition all year, which is what the ranking gap is measuring.
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
Elvina KalievaLanlana TararudeePlayer 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
- Both players are making their US Open main-draw debuts.
- Kalieva, an American, comes through qualifying; Tararudee is in on her ranking at No. 72.
- Their career hard-court records are within four matches of each other.
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: Court 11, Sunday 30 August. The US Open posts each day's order of play the evening before; this one is on the board. (Official US Open order of play, 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 Volynets or Nosková in the Round of 64.
