Sakatsume downs Kalinina in straight sets at US Open

Himeno Sakatsume produced a controlled straight-sets win over Anhelina Kalinina, 6-3 6-3, in the first round of the US Open. The Japanese player landed only 52.9% of her first serves but made them count, winning 74.1% of those points and a healthy 62.5% behind her second delivery, with three aces against three double faults. Kalinina was the steadier server in terms of accuracy, finding 71.9% of first serves, yet she won just 52.2% of the points that followed and never built any pressure of her own. It was a clean, efficient afternoon that carried Sakatsume into the second round in New York.