US Open Day 1: The MATGA Movement Comes Out Strong

It happens every year. A few days ago, we told you about the air of excitement which permeates the grounds of the Billie Jean King Tennis Center on the first day of Qualifying rounds. And then, less than a week later, comes the first day of the opening round of the US Open, and we are reminded that everything felt only a week before is amplified exponentially. There are thousands more people on the grounds, and each one of the outer courts have sizable crowds, with many filled to capacity. And with the bigger crowds comes a much higher level of ambient noise — an actual discernible "buzz" in the air. That buzz is pierced on a regular basis by loud outbursts from any one of more than a dozen courts, due to the fans in attendance reacting to what they are witnessing. In short, to use a phrase that has been overworked but truly applies here, the first day of the US Open main draw is like the first day of qualifying...on steroids!

And the feeling of hopeful anticipation seems to be particularly noticeable this year due to the MATGA movement — Make American Tennis Great Again. To elaborate, in case you were out for popcorn the last 25 years or so, if the name was not Williams in women’s singles, or Bryan in men’s doubles, there hasn’t been all that much to brag about on the American tennis front. Sure, there have been a lot of players on both the men’s and women’s tours who had very nice games, competed hard, and were very admirable types: Two who immediately come to mind are the twin towers of Sam Querry and John Isner, both of them good players and great guys. While they represented American tennis well, they hovered around the #10 ranking, and were rarely a threat to win a major.

In recent past, there has been a noticeable change at the top for American men and especially women, so for the many who enjoy that the 2025 US Open is the time to sit down, enjoy your popcorn and watch.

On the first day, the MATGA movement made a strong showing. There was Ben Shelton, currently ranked #6, coming away with a solid straight set victory on Ashe, which was followed shortly by #4 Taylor Fritz producing a straight set win of his own on Armstrong. Fritz made his presence among the elite players known via his play at last year’s Open; he made an impressive run to the Finals where he lost to Sinner.

While watching top names compete is no doubt a treat, it can often be more compelling in early rounds to look in on lesser known talent. Such was the case on Court 12, where American Eric Quinn was taking on qualifier Jerome Kym of Switzerland. On this day, the two players seemed evenly matched, but Quinn found himself down 2 sets. It is a tough thing being down 2-0 with things obviously not going right for you. How a player reacts to that can be very telling as to his/her character. In this case, Quinn did a gut check, won the third set, and made it an extremely interesting match to watch. And those in attendance at Court 12 were entirely drawn in. Somewhat muffled shouts of "E Q" grew in volume as the match progressed to repeated ovations "E Q, E Q, EQ!" (for Eric Quinn) — along the lines of "Rocky, Rocky!" from the popular film series. And, much like the plot of that movie, Quinn lost. The match ended in a 4th set tie-breaker, Kym coming away with a 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) decision. But like Rocky, Quinn won a lot of hearts, and no doubt those present are hoping to see him fare better in a sequel. Let’s just hope Quinn doesn’t have to face Mister T at next year’s Open.

Back on Ashe court evening session, while the MATGA movement had an overall very good day, it could not overcome the magic that is Novak Djokovic. Other than some sporadic play in the second set, Djokovic had a workman-like time in defeating American Learner Tien, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2. There was some hope coming into the match for Tien, who has raised his ranking more than 70 spots over the last year to his present #50. But while hope may spring eternal, the outcome here is more indicative of Djokovic actually being eternal. Perhaps he has added some kind of potion to his well-known preparation techniques which allows him to keep performing at such a high level. While it is a common thing to admire what Djokovic does on the court, his appearance last night had a quality of the amazing to it. This was probably due in no small part to the all-black ensemble in which Djokovic performed (including sneakers). Rather than the D’joker moniker which is often applied to him, this seemed to give him much more the appearance of a "Dr. Strange." The coming days will tell us if he has enough magic in him to win a 25th Grand Slam title.

The Djokovic match was followed by a return to MATGA last night, this time on the women’s side. The finalist from last year, #4 ranked Jessica Pegula, won in straight sets over Egypt’s Meyer Sheriff 6-0, 6-4.

The last match we will discuss here is also part of the MATGA movement. It took place on the Grandstand Court, where #30 American Brandon Nakashima battled the Netherlands’ Jesper de Jong, currently ranked #83. And by "battled" we mean that quite literally; the match went 5 sets and took almost 4 hours, with Nakashima emerging victorious in a fifth set tiebreaker; 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (10-7). While coming back from a 2-1 set deficit is not nearly the mountain to climb as the 2-0 hole previously mentioned, a player still has to show a helluva lot of fight to accomplish the task. We had a good look at Nakashima during last year’s Open, where he was still working his way back from a left knee injury. He gave a very impressive performance that left us thinking he could well be on his way to being a top 20 player. While Nakashima has not quite gotten there (yet), his performance last night gave clear notice that he has the passion within him to move up. And he is one more player who has made an impact in the overall MATGA movement.

*As a final note here, while we did come up with the MATGA acronym, there’s a very good chance this will be the first and last time you see it.

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Written by Florida Tennis contributor Todd Pechter. Photo credit: pechterphotos.com. Photos (from top to bottom): It isn't a big stretch to picture Taylor Fritz going deep into this year's Open after a straight set first round win; "E-Q!, E-Q!" Eric Quinn loses a match but wins hearts on a packed court 12; Novak Djokovic conjures up a straight set first round victory vs Learner Tien; American Brandon Nakashima demonstrated that he could elevate his game in coming away with a 5 set triumph to move into the second round.