By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Photo credit: Garrett Ellwood/USTA
American men own some of the dominant deliveries in tennis.
Three of the top seven players on the ATP ace list—ace leader Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Brandon Nakashima, who lost to compatriot Alex Michelsen on Grandstand today—are Americans.
Today, American women Jessica Pegula and Taylor Townsend delivered first-serve fireworks.
Left-hander Townsend tossed a first-serve shutout in her 6-1, 6-1 US Open sweep of Taylah Preston on Court 17.
Townsend served 73 percent and won 23 of 23 first serve points and permitted only four points on serve total in a 48-minute obliteration.
“Today was a really great serving day for me,” Townsend said. “I know that I have one of the best serves in the world and sometimes things get in the way.
“It’s proven being a lefty obviously really helps. I really love this court. I love playing on this court.”
That victory sends Townsend into an all-lefty third-round clash vs. Diana Shnaider.
The 15th-seeded Shnaider stopped former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 7-6(4).
It’s Shnaider’s second Grand Slam win of the season over a current or former No. 1. Shnaider shocked top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 en route to the Roland Garros semifinals.
The 2024 US Open finalist Pegula won 19 of 22 first-serve points dismissing 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-1 in 56 minutes.
Pegula exploited three unforced errors and a double fault to score the opening break.
After Kenin scored her second straight love hold to close the gap to 3-4, Pegula reeled off seven straight games erupting for a 6-3, 5-0 lead as a harried Kenin rushed through points and made gestures of frustration toward her father and coach Alex Kenin.
Overall, Pegula won 19 of 22 first-serve points and dropped only seven points on serve total against the former No. 3. All this one round after Pegula won 23 of 25 first-serve points in a 6-3, 6-2 first-round victory over Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
“I’m going for my spots, going pretty big on second serves and just trust I can hit good serves in the moment,” Pegula said. “So really excited when I can practice something and it works in the match.”
The Charleston champion Pegula, who was runner-up in both Washington, DC and Cincinnati, will face 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez in a third-round clash of former Flushing Meadows finalists.
Pegula has beaten the 33rd-ranked Canadian in three of four meetings.
“Leylah is really tough to play against. 1, being a lefty is always tricky,” Pegula said. “I think she’s really
aggressive. She changes the direction of the ball really well, kind of hugs the baseline and hits a lot of good
angles, isn’t afraid to come in, is a good returner.
“I know she’s obviously a former finalist here, great results here. I feel like she played well here last year, losing to Aryna in a tough match. I think it’s going to be very, very tough, for sure next round for both of us.
“She’s tough to play. She plays a little bit unorthodox, likes to use her forehand and take the ball
super early. When she’s feeling it, it can be really tough to play against. I have had situations where I feel like I’ve played well against her and done well, but then sometimes if she’s on and you start a little slow, she can really be super-aggressive and it’s tricky to play against.”
0 comments