US Open 2026 pages
Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 64
Sorana Cirstea vs 
Diane Parry
Round of 64
Watch: ESPN · ESPN2 · ABC · ESPN app
My pick: Sorana Cirstea to advance · locked 2026-09-01 01:20 UTCPrediction
The seed against the form, and the form is unusually hot. Parry won the WTA 500 in Monterrey on Saturday — the first tour title of her career — flew to New York and beat Viktorija Golubic 7-5 6-4 on Monday for a sixth straight win, taking five of the six break points she earned. Cirstea has had the better season on paper, 36-15 with a Roland Garros quarter-final and a first appearance in the top 20 at 36, and she beat Julia Grabher 6-3 6-0 in an hour and a half. But she was treated several times on the calf during it, and the last game of a 6-0 set took her over ten minutes and seven saved break points to finish — a body being managed rather than one running away with things. This is the first round of Cirstea's last Grand Slam, and there is no way to know what that does either way. They have never played. Parry's 46 unforced errors on Monday are the reason this is not a bigger split for her: she is winning while playing loose, and Cirstea punishes that.
The case for Sorana Cirstea
62% to winCirstea is 36-15 for the season, ranked 17th, and reached the Roland Garros quarter-finals this year — the only player in this section with a Grand Slam quarter-final on her record at this tournament too, from 2023. She hit 13 winners to 18 unforced errors against Grabher, which is a control player's line, and she has not lost a US Open first round in eight appearances. Six straight wins and a title also mean six matches in nine days in Mexican heat before an overnight flight.
The case for Diane Parry
38% to winParry has won six matches in a row and a WTA 500 title in the last ten days, and she took five of six break points against an opponent who does not give many away. She is 23 to Cirstea's 36 and playing the best fortnight of her life; the 46 unforced errors came with 28 winners, which is the profile of someone going for it rather than someone missing. Cirstea needed the physiotherapist on Monday.
Both cases written 2026-09-01, 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
Sorana CirsteaDiane ParryPlayer 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 2026-08-31.
The briefing
Storylines
- Parry won her first career tour title, the WTA 500 in Monterrey, two days before the tournament started, and has now won six matches in a row.
- This is the first round of the last Grand Slam of Cirstea's career; she has said she will retire at the end of the season.
- Cirstea was treated several times on the calf during her 6-3 6-0 win over Julia Grabher, and saved seven break points in a final game that ran past ten minutes.
- Parry converted five of the six break points she earned against Viktorija Golubic, who double-faulted on the first match point.
- First meeting; they have never played.
Head to head
They have never met at tour level.
Source: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-31.
Watch: Second-round coverage runs across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, with ESPN Deportes in Spanish — and every court streams in the ESPN app, which is where a match away from the two show courts will live. (ESPN press-room release and listings, as of 2026-08-27)
Court & schedule: Not yet assigned. The US Open posts each day's order of play the evening before, and this match has not reached the board yet. (Official US Open order-of-play release cadence, as of 2026-08-31)
Weather: Rain is the story of the week's opening, and it is forecast to get worse before it clears. Showers and thunderstorms are likely overnight — 72% under a low near 72°F — and Tuesday is the worst day on the board: near 81°F with storms likely through the day, 67%, and again after dark at 64%. Wednesday is the break in it, near 76°F on a 26% chance of showers, with a slight chance of storms returning overnight; Thursday is warm and unsettled again, near 84°F on 53%. Friday is the first clean day of the fortnight — near 82°F and mostly sunny after an early 15%. Ashe and Armstrong close their roofs and play on; everything else waits. (National Weather Service New York forecast, as of 2026-08-31)
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York — hard.
At this Stage
The Round of 64 halves the draw again: 32 women's matches across Wednesday and Thursday, every one of them between players who have already won here this week. The seeds who came through the opening round now meet opponents with form behind them rather than a ranking.
Round of 128
Round of 32