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Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 64
Marta Kostyuk vs Sloane Stephens — 6-1 7-5
 Marta Kostyuk✓ | 6 | 7 |
 Sloane Stephens | 1 | 5 |
Final · Wednesday, September 2, 2026 · Round of 64
Result
Marta Kostyuk beat Sloane Stephens for the second time in three weeks, having also come through 7-5 7-5 in Cincinnati. The first set took half an hour: the 11th seed broke early and conceded just one game, a Stephens hold from 3-0 down. The second was closer. Both held to 2-2 before Kostyuk broke and consolidated for 4-2 — then lost three games in a row as the 2017 champion, now ranked 209th and in the draw on a wildcard, found her range. Serving at 4-5, Kostyuk saved a set point, then won the last three games to finish in 1hr 27min. She struck eight aces to none and three times as many winners, 30 to 10, against 27 unforced errors. It was Kostyuk's tenth US Open main-draw win; only Elina Svitolina and Kateryna Bondarenko have reached double figures in New York for Ukraine. She has now made the third round here in three consecutive years.
Marta KostyukRows the source hadn’t published are left off rather than guessed.
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 64
What we know now
Court: Louis Armstrong Stadium
Match length: 1:27
Watch: ESPN · ESPN2 · ABC · ESPN app
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.
Kostyuk, and the eighteen days since they last played are the reason to be confident rather than the rankings. She beat Stephens 7-5 7-5 in the Cincinnati second round in the middle of August; she is 33-9 for the season, ranked 11th, and beat Storm Hunter 6-4 6-1 in 67 minutes on Sunday with eight aces to none. Stephens is a wild card at 33 ranked around 209 in the world, and she played the tidiest match of the women's opening day to get here — ten unforced errors, no double faults, 79% of her first-serve points won and Clara Tauson given one break point in an hour and sixteen minutes. That is the version of Stephens that won this tournament in 2017, and she is the only player in this half of the draw with a US Open title. But Kostyuk is the better mover, has 130 hard-court wins to a season that has been about getting fit again, and has already solved this match once this month. Two close sets in Cincinnati is the shape to expect; the split reflects that it went the same way both times.
The case for Marta Kostyuk
85% to winKostyuk has beaten her already this month, 7-5 7-5 in Cincinnati, and has the season behind her: 33-9, a career-high No. 11, a fourth round here a year ago. Her opener took 67 minutes and produced eight aces against none, 22 winners to eight, and the sort of scoreline that leaves nothing in the legs. Stephens has to be nearly perfect to beat her and was — against an opponent ranked 170 places lower than this one.
The case for Sloane Stephens
15% to winStephens is the 2017 champion on these courts, and the wild card she is playing on is the end of a climb back from a ranking outside the top thousand. Ten unforced errors and no double faults in a straight-sets win over a top-40 player is not a fluke; it is the profile of a player whose game has come back at the right fortnight. Cincinnati went 7-5 7-5, which is four games, and New York at night is a different building for someone who has won here.
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.
My locked pick: Marta Kostyuk to advance ✓ RIGHT
“She solved this match three weeks ago in Cincinnati and has the season, the ranking and the shorter opener.”
Locked 2026-09-01 01:20 UTC — rendered verbatim from the pick ledger; never a fresher, hedged version
Tale of the tape
Marta KostyukSloane StephensPlayer vitals: US Open official player feed (usopen.org) and Tennis Abstract career match logs · as of 2026-09-02.
Career head-to-head: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-31.
Storylines
- They played eighteen days ago in the Cincinnati second round and Kostyuk won 7-5 7-5.
- Stephens, the 2017 champion here, is in the draw on a wild card and beat Clara Tauson 6-4 6-1 with ten unforced errors and no double faults.
- Kostyuk beat Storm Hunter 6-4 6-1 in 67 minutes, hitting eight aces to none.
- Kostyuk is 33-9 for the season and ranked a career-high 11th; Stephens is 13-13 and ranked around 209.
- Stephens is the only Grand Slam singles champion left in this quarter of the draw.
Head to head
One meeting, three weeks ago: Kostyuk won 7-5 7-5 in the Cincinnati second round in August 2026.
Source: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-31.
Court & schedule: Louis Armstrong Stadium, 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 2026-09-01)
Weather: Sunday — the men's final, and the last match of the fortnight — is 78°F with showers and thunderstorms 95% likely, the wettest day of the two weeks and the one day that cannot be pushed back. Ashe closes its roof and plays on. It clears overnight: 20% Sunday night, 20% Monday, then dry and sunny from Tuesday. (National Weather Service New York forecast, as of 2026-09-13)
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York — hard.