Kazakhstan's Anna Danilina (6) and Japan's Miyu Kato (43) defeated Tang Qianhui (56) from China and Renata Zarazua (153) from Mexico 4:6, 6:2, 10:6 in the first round of the WTA-500 tournament in Monterrey. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Having temporarily parted ways with Aleksandra Krunic (5), who is competing for a substantial prize in the mixed doubles at the US Open 2026, Anna Danilina is preparing for the major through a tournament in Mexico. Partnered with the petite (153 cm) Japanese player Kato, our tennis player started the match well, taking a 3-0 lead with a break.

Despite their low rankings, the opponents proved to be formidable. Seizing the initiative, the Chinese-Mexican pair won four games in a row. And at a crucial moment in the set, they broke their opponents' serve again – 6:4.

In the second set, Danilina and Kato played much more composedly. With two breaks, in the first and seventh games, Anna and Miyu leveled the score – 6:2.

In the super tiebreak, the eventual winners trailed 2-5 but managed to level the game and secure victory. 4:6, 6:2, 10:6 in 1 hour 23 minutes, 69:56 – all points won.

For a place in the semifinals, Danilina/Kato will face Maria Kozyreva (60) and Maia Lumsden (49). In the first round, the Russian-British pair unexpectedly defeated the strong tandem, 25th in the WTA rankings, Tereza Mihalikova (Slovakia)/Olivia Nicholls (Great Britain) – 7:5, 6:3.

As for Krunic, the Serbian, paired with Croatian Mate Pavic (7), lost in the first round of the US Open 2026 mixed doubles qualifying to Peyton Stearns (105) and Christian Harrison (12) – 2:4, 1:4. Incidentally, the American tandem also did not reach the main draw, losing in the next round to the top-ranked doubles pair Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) and Henry Patten (Great Britain) – 1:4, 2:4.

Despite the exhibition nature of the US Open 2026 mixed doubles (sets are played to four points until the final, and pairs are formed by organizers), its prize fund is quite substantial – $1 million.

During the tournament, star singles pairs such as Aryna Sabalenka/Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams/Carlos Alcaraz, Jessica Pegula/Taylor Fritz, Diana Shnaider/Casper Ruud, and others have put their rackets away.

In the semifinals today, Elina Svitolina (Ukraine)/Gael Monfils (France) will play Belinda Bencic (Switzerland)/Flavio Cobolli (Italy). Also, the Czech duo Karolina Muchova/Jakub Mensik will face Russians Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev.

Kazakhstanis are not participating in the mixed doubles. Alexander Bublik's potential partner Venus Williams withdrew due to injury. As did Elena Rybakina, who was supposed to play with Fritz. Elena's participation in the singles draw of the US Open 2026, after an Achilles injury in Cincinnati, is also in question.

However, even without playing a single match at the American major, Rybakina could become the world's No. 1 for the first time in history. For this, Sabalenko, Pegula, or Coco Gauff must not win the US Open 2026.

The US Open is an annual Grand Slam tennis tournament on hard courts and the last of the four majors in the calendar year.

The tournament was first held in August 1881. For the second consecutive year, the competition starts a week earlier due to the rescheduled mixed doubles event. The total prize fund of the US Open 2026 is $108 million – a record for majors.

In addition to the five main draws, the tournament features veterans, juniors, and wheelchair tennis players. Since 1978, matches have been held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, New York.

The current champions of the main draws are Spain's Alcaraz and Belarus's Sabalenka.