More excitement on Day 2 at the US Open

Monday was jam-packed with Florida's best players battling for first round victories at the US Open. Most were successful in their efforts. Tuesday was more of a mixed bag. 

Our recap today will touch on players with ties to Florida along with an array of Americans (and a few other international favorites) we witnessed in-and-around the tournament at the iconic Flushing Meadows facility.

Sebastian Korda hails from Sarasota and he's been on a tear of late winning the Mubadala Citi DC Open. The 16th seed from Florida faced off against France's Corentin Moutet. Seb started slow and picked up speed throughout winning 7-6, 6-1,6-0.

Photo credit: Todd Pechter for Florida Tennis

We were also hyped to watch Naomi Osaka. Why? She grew up playing on public courts in Pembroke Pines. And yesterday she brought the heat against her first round opponent, Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, winning in straight sets 6-3,6-2.

Sofia Kenin also grew up in Pembroke Pines and took down former US Open champ Emma Radacanu 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.

The women's Miami Open winner, Danielle Collins, also grew up playing on Florida's public courts on the west coast in St. Petersburg. Her luck, however, ran out against Caroline Dolehide who dispatched of Collins in three 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.

The men's Miami Open winner, Jannik Sinner struggled a bit in his first set against American MacKenzie McDonald but got the win 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. Sinner was truly gracious in victory, giving a very heartfelt handshake. Hey, there aren't too many people who can say they took a set off of him.

Photo credit: Todd Pechter for Florida Tennis

Boca Raton-based Tommy Paul loves training in Florida and his hard work is paying off — he knocked out Italy's Lorenzo Sonego in four 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

An all-Florida showdown took place yesterday as Boca Raton-based Jessica Pegula took on Shelby Rogers who has a residence in Pompano Beach. It was Pegula who prevailed in the end 6-4, 6-3.

As I checked out the matches, I ran into Macy Parmer who works in the Communications Department at the University of Miami. She was excited to watch the Hurricanes' Alexa Noel who recently won the NCAA tournament. However, Noel's first round at the US Open included some nerves and she fell to Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo.

Meanwhile, American Marcos Giron duked it out with Aussie Alex De Minaur in a thrilling battle on the baseline. In the end, the Australian "Demon" prevailed and got the win over the former UCLA stand-out 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

Photo credit: Todd Pechter for Florida Tennis

Finally, a benchmark was surpassed yesterday as Daniel Evans and Karen Khachanov broke the record for longest US Open match. Evans upset the No. 23 seed Khachanov by a score of 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4, lasting 5 hours and 35 minutes. 

Another record was set too (albeit a milestone from Monday) boasting the biggest Opening Day crowd in event history — 74,641. The day-session crowd of 42,886 was the second-highest day-session attendance in history, while the night-session crowd of 31,775 set an all-time night-session record. 

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Written by Florida Tennis Editor and Publisher Matt Pressman with additional reporting and photography from Florida Tennis contributor Todd Pechter.