US Open 2026 pages
Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 128
Magda Linette vs Francesca Jones — 6-4 1-6 6-3
 Francesca Jones✓ | 6 | 1 | 6 |
 Magda Linette | 4 | 6 | 3 |
Final · Wednesday, September 2, 2026 · Round of 128
Result
Linette, ranked 82nd, and Jones, a qualifier at No. 104, went on Court 5 after 9pm on Tuesday and did not finish until the next evening. Linette led 3-0, then could not convert chances for 5-3; serving to stay in the set at 4-5 she led 30-15 on return, but Jones took the next three points for 6-4 and rain ended the night. On Wednesday they completed the warm-up, were driven off again and waited another 100 minutes. Linette went 3-0 up a second time, kept going and closed the set 6-1 with an ace. Jones settled the third early, saving two break points from 15-40 in the third game and breaking for a lead she never lost. In the closing game an out call wrongly given against Jones killed a rally Linette was controlling, bringing a replay instead of the point; Jones won the next two. It finished dead level on points, 75-75 — Jones converting all four break points she earned, Linette four of eight.
Magda LinetteRows the source hadn’t published are left off rather than guessed.
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 Jovic or Frech in the Round of 64.
What we know now
What I said beforehand
The preview, frozen before the first serve. Clearly dated, never rewritten — that's the deal that makes the pick worth anything.
Linette is 34, ranked 78th, 19–18 this season with 409 career hard-court matches on record; Jones is a 104th-ranked qualifier who is 4–12 on the year. The Pole has been a major quarter-finalist and knows exactly how to win a scrappy first round; Jones has three qualifying wins and a 23–21 career hard record that is respectable but shallow. Linette in two or three.
The case for Magda Linette
68% to winFour hundred and nine career hard-court matches, a 19–18 season against a 4–12 one, and 26 ranking places. Linette wins ugly matches for a living, which is what a first round against a qualifier usually is.
The case for Francesca Jones
32% to winJones has the momentum of a qualifying run and Linette is 34 with a barely-winning season. If the match becomes a physical grind in the afternoon heat, the 25-year-old is the one who came through three matches this week to get here.
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.
My locked pick: Magda Linette to advance ✗ WRONG
“A 19–18 season and 409 career hard-court matches against a qualifier who is 4–12 in 2026.”
Locked 2026-08-29 01:40 UTC — rendered verbatim from the pick ledger; never a fresher, hedged version
Tale of the tape
Magda LinetteFrancesca JonesPlayer 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.
Storylines
- Linette has 409 career hard-court matches on record — the most of anyone in this batch.
- Jones qualified for the second straight year; she lost in the first round here in 2025.
- Linette's third round here in 2020 is her best US Open run.
Head to head
They have never met.
Source: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-28.
Court & schedule: Court 5, Wednesday 2 September. 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 2026-09-02)
Weather: Sunday — the men's final, and the last match of the fortnight — was forecast at 78°F with showers and thunderstorms 95% likely, the wettest day of the two weeks and the one day that could not be pushed back. The rain came in the morning and stopped before the final, which Ashe played with its roof open. It cleared from there: 15% overnight, 15% Monday, then dry and sunny. (National Weather Service New York forecast, as of 2026-09-13)
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York — hard.