US Open 2026 pages
Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 64
Ann Li vs 
Donna Vekic
Round of 64
Watch: ESPN · ESPN2 · ABC · ESPN app
My pick: Ann Li to advance · locked 2026-09-01 01:20 UTCPrediction
Li, on the evidence of Monday and on the fact that the one time these two played, five years ago in Chicago, she won it for the loss of four games. The 29th seed hit 28 winners to Antonia Ruzic's five, took a tight first set 7-5 and then gave up one more game; she came into the tournament off the best week of her season, a Monterrey semi-final, and she reached the fourth round here a year ago. Vekic's route was the harder one — 2 hours 33 minutes against Talia Gibson, a set lost in the middle, nine double faults, and 29 break points shared between the two of them of which only nine were converted. That is a serve that will get broken, and Li converted five of eight against Ruzic. What Vekic has is history at this level: a US Open quarter-final in 2019, a Wimbledon final, 203 career hard-court wins to Li's 92. She is the sort of opponent whose ranking of 39 understates her. But her serve has to hold up in a way it did not on Sunday.
The case for Ann Li
60% to winLi is seeded, is playing the best tennis of her season after a Monterrey semi-final, and made 28 winners in a straight-sets win that took 92 minutes to Vekic's 153. She won their only previous meeting 6-3 6-1. And Vekic gave up seventeen break points in her opener against a player ranked outside the top 100 — Li converted five of eight on Monday and returns better than Gibson does.
The case for Donna Vekic
40% to winVekic has been to a Grand Slam final and a US Open quarter-final, has 203 career hard-court wins to Li's 92, and has spent this season losing close matches rather than being outplayed. She came from a set down on Sunday, which Li has not had to do. Their one meeting was in 2021, when Li was 21 and Vekic was on her way back from knee surgery — it says nothing about either of them now.
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
Ann LiDonna VekicPlayer 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
- Li hit 28 winners to Ruzic's five in a 7-5 6-1 win, three days after losing the Monterrey semi-final to Diane Parry.
- Vekic came from a set down to beat Talia Gibson 6-2 4-6 6-3 in 2 hours 33 minutes, serving nine double faults and facing seventeen break points.
- Their only meeting was at Chicago in 2021, which Li won 6-3 6-1.
- Vekic reached the US Open quarter-finals in 2019 and has 203 career hard-court wins; Li has 92 and a fourth round here last year.
- Between them the two openers produced 29 break points and only nine conversions.
Head to head
One meeting, five years ago: Li won 6-3 6-1 in the Chicago first round in September 2021.
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.
