US Open 2026 pages
Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 128
Marta Kostyuk vs 
Storm Hunter
Sunday, August 30, 2026 · Round of 128
Watch: ESPN · ESPN2 · ABC · ESPN app
My pick: Marta Kostyuk to advance · locked 2026-08-29 01:40 UTCPrediction
Kostyuk is the 11th seed and world No. 11, 33–8 this season — the best winning percentage in this quarter — and a fourth-rounder here in 2025. Hunter is a 32-year-old left-handed qualifier better known as a doubles player, ranked 169th in singles, 13–9 on the year. They met once, in Prague qualifying in 2020, and Kostyuk won 6-0 6-0. Grandstand on Sunday; this should be short.
The case for Marta Kostyuk
89% to winThirty-three wins and eight losses, a top-11 ranking, a fourth round here last year, and a 6-0 6-0 win over this exact opponent. There is no version of the form guide that favours the qualifier.
The case for Storm Hunter
11% to winHunter is left-handed and one of the best volleyers in the draw — a genuine grass-and-hard doubles specialist who can shorten points in a way baseliners dislike. Their meeting was six years ago on clay, when she was a different player, and 13–9 is respectable singles form.
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
Marta KostyukStorm HunterPlayer 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
- Kostyuk won their only meeting 6-0 6-0 — Prague qualifying, 2020, on clay.
- Hunter, 32, is primarily a doubles player and is into a US Open main draw through singles qualifying.
- Kostyuk's 33–8 season is the best winning percentage in this quarter of the draw.
Head to head
One meeting: Prague qualifying, 2020, Kostyuk 6-0 6-0 on clay.
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: Grandstand, 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 Stephens or Tauson in the Round of 64.
