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Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 64
Ann Li vs Donna Vekic — 5-7 7-6(4) 6-4
 Ann Li✓ | 5 | 7 | 6 |
 Donna Vekic | 7 | 64 | 4 |
Final · Wednesday, September 2, 2026 · Round of 64
Result
Two points separated them across 2hr 44min — 121 to 119 — and Ann Li won hers in the right places. The 29th seed was broken to love at 5-5 in the opening set and Donna Vekic served it out at 15; from there Vekic did not convert another break point, going 0 for 5, while Li held twelve times in a row through a second set she lost on points, 49-48, and won in a tiebreak, taking five in a row from 1-3 down. Five of Li's eight aces and none of her five double faults came in that set. The decider was close to flawless: two unforced errors in the whole set to Vekic's five, three aces to none, three love holds. Trailing 3-4, Li won the last three games, breaking at 4-4 and serving out to love on her only match point of the afternoon. It makes her 2-0 against Vekic, five years after they last met in Chicago, and it comes against a player who won Queen's in June from the lucky-loser slot having been 103rd in the world six months before that.
Ann LiRows 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
What we know now
Court: Court 13
Match length: 2:44
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.
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.
My locked pick: Ann Li to advance ✓ RIGHT
“The seed, the cheaper opener and the only previous meeting — against a bigger name whose serve was breakable on Sunday.”
Locked 2026-09-01 01:20 UTC — rendered verbatim from the pick ledger; never a fresher, hedged version
Tale of the tape
Ann LiDonna VekicPlayer 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
- 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.
Court & schedule: Court 13, 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 2026-09-02)
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.