US Open 2026 pages
Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 128
Lucrezia Stefanini vs 
Dayana Yastremska
Sunday, August 30, 2026 · Round of 128
Watch: ESPN · ESPN2 · ABC · ESPN app
My pick: Dayana Yastremska to advance · locked 2026-08-29 01:40 UTCPrediction
Yastremska is 112th but has 239 career hard-court matches behind her and a third round here in 2019; Stefanini is a 28-year-old qualifier ranked 119th, 8–10 on the season, playing her first US Open main draw. Seven ranking places separate them and 85-point Elo gap favours Yastremska. The Ukrainian ball-striking is streaky enough that a qualifier in rhythm is a live threat, but the weight of shot decides it. Yastremska in three, Court 7 on Sunday.
The case for Lucrezia Stefanini
40% to winStefanini has three wins on these courts this week and a career hard record (43–42) that is a winning one, where Yastremska's is 127–112. Yastremska is 11–18 this season — the worse form by a distance — and prone to a bad day.
The case for Dayana Yastremska
60% to winTwo hundred and thirty-nine career hard-court matches against 85, a third round at this tournament, and the biggest strike of the two by some way. On a quick court, weight of shot beats rhythm more often than not.
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
Lucrezia StefaniniDayana YastremskaPlayer 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
- Stefanini, 28, is playing her first US Open main-draw match.
- Yastremska's third round here in 2019 remains her best US Open result.
- Only seven ranking places separate them — No. 112 against No. 119.
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 7, 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 Paolini or Erjavec in the Round of 64.
