US Open: Maaya Rajeshwaran storms into Round 2, heartbreak for Hitesh, Tyagi

Maaya Rajeshwaran stormed into the second round of the US Open 2025 girls’ singles on Sunday, August 31. The 16-year-old from Coimbatore marked her maiden main-draw appearance at a Grand Slam with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over China’s Zhang-Qian Wei on Court 8. The contest lasted an hour and 34 minutes.

Hailing from Coimbatore and training at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Maaya’s rise has been rapid. Earlier this year, she reached the semifinals of the WTA 125 Mumbai Open, where she entered as a qualifier and defeated three players ranked inside the Top 300—a remarkable feat for someone born in 2009.

Her Grand Slam journey has also seen steady progress. She featured in the first round of qualifying at the French Open, losing to Britain’s Brooke Black, and advanced to the second round of qualifying at Wimbledon before falling to China’s Ye Shiyu.

Rajeshwaran now faces a stern test in the second round at Flushing Meadows, where she is set to take on second seed Hannah Klugman of the United Kingdom.

Kriish Tyagi, Hitesh Chauhan crash out

At the US Open, both Indian hopefuls crashed out in straight sets in the junior boys’ singles. In New York, Hitesh Chauhan, who had progressed through qualifying, was eliminated 2-6, 4-6 by American Jerrid Gaines Jr in a match that lasted approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, Kriish Tyagi suffered a more dominant defeat, going down 3-6, 1-6 to Sweden’s Ludvig Hede. Neither player managed to gain a foothold, with both exiting in their opening singles matches.

Amongst Indians, only Yuki Bhambri remains in contention. Partnering New Zealand’s Michael Venus, he will face Italy’s Miguel Reyes-Varela and Ecuador’s Gonzalo Escobar in the second round of the men’s doubles. In the opening round, Bhambri and Venus cruised past Americans Marcos Giron and Learner Tien 6-0, 6-3 at the 2025 US Open.