'Nerves got to me' - Keys crumbles to shock US Open first-round loss

Australian Open champion Madison Keys suffered a shock defeat by Mexico's Renata Zarazua in the first round of the US Open, paying the price for an error-strewn performance.

The sixth seed's first home major as a Grand Slam champion did not go to plan as she made 89 unforced errors in a 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 defeat.

Keys made 37 unforced errors in the first set alone but managed to take it on a tie-break after world number 82 Zarazua spurned five set points.

The match looked there for the taking for Keys as she breezed to a 3-0 lead in the next set, but the 2017 runner-up in New York then lost four consecutive games.

She managed to take the set to a tie-break, but Keys' 13th double fault of the day handed Zarazua three set points, and the underdog only needed one.

Keys' coach and husband Bjorn Fratangelo offered advice and encouragement throughout - at one point saying: "It's just a sport, nothing's riding on the line" - but the American's play remained erratic.

The deciding set went with serve until Zarazua broke in the eighth game, but Keys broke back immediately.

However, it was not to be for 30-year-old Keys, who would have been targeting a deep run following her maiden major in Melbourne at the start of the year.

Zarazua secured her first victory against a top-10 player when Keys netted on match point, sparking wild celebrations among the Mexican's support team after a contest lasting three hours and 10 minutes.

Victoria Mboko's fairytale 2025 will not get the perfect ending after she lost 6-3 6-2 to 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.

The 18-year-old defeated four Grand Slam champions on her way to winning the Canadian Open earlier this month, and is now ranked 23rd in the world having begun the year down in 333rd.

But her inconsistency cost her at Louis Armstrong Stadium as the teenager struggled on second serve and committed 10 double faults.

Krejcikova looked much like her old self after slipping to 62nd in the rankings during an injury-hit year.

Elsewhere, ninth seed Elena Rybakina handed a harsh lesson to 16-year-old Grand Slam debutant Julieta Pareja, wrapping up a 6-3 6-0 win in one hour and two minutes.

The world junior number one held her own in the opening stages, but soon succumbed to the 2022 Wimbledon champion looking to progress beyond the US Open third round for the first time.

American Pareja earned a wildcard spot after reaching the semi-finals in Bogota as a qualifier in her WTA debut, before finishing runner-up in both singles and doubles at this year's Wimbledon juniors event.