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Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 64
Marta Kostyuk vs 
Sloane Stephens
Round of 64
Watch: ESPN · ESPN2 · ABC · ESPN app
My pick: Marta Kostyuk to advance · locked 2026-09-01 01:20 UTCPrediction
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.
Tale of the tape
Marta KostyukSloane StephensPlayer 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
- 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.
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