Gabriela Knutson and Eva Lys open the US Open on Court 6 on Tuesday at 15:00 UTC, a first-round meeting between a qualifier in full rhythm and a tour regular who has not competed since mid-August. Lys sits at No. 98, Knutson at No. 184. Only one of them has hit a competitive ball in the past two weeks.
Three straight-set wins against a fortnight of silence
Knutson came through qualifying without dropping a set: 6-1 7-5 over Lepchenko, 6-3 6-1 over Salkova, 6-4 6-4 over Gorgodze. Two experienced left-handers and a younger ball-striker, none of them keeping her on court beyond 100 minutes. Behind that run sit a win over Zhang Shuai in Washington qualifying and a Warsaw final on hard.
Lys has the better record and the worse month. She retired in Toronto against Udvardy after a set and a tiebreak, then lost to Blinkova and Kenin in Cincinnati having won the opening set in both, with ten double faults in the second of those. A rheumatic condition that makes day-to-day readiness variable, plus no matches for a fortnight, leaves the layoff as a real question rather than a footnote.
Why the 86-place gap flatters Lys here
The price is built on tour pedigree and on the 2024 qualifying meeting here, which Lys handled well in the tighter second set. Knutson is a different proposition now: an American college product at home on these courts, with a first serve producing short returns and the composure to break at 5-5 against Lepchenko when the match tightened.
Lys will look to stand close and take the ball early to rush Knutson's bigger swings, and that route is genuine. It is not worth the gap on the board.
Prediction: Gabriela Knutson to win, odds 2.465
