Pretty much from the get-go at the US Open, Madison Keys could tell she wasn’t hitting the ball well or feeling very much at all like the self-confident player who claimed her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.

After 89 unforced errors, including 14 double-faults, in a game that lasted three hours and 10 minutes, World No. 6 Keys was gone from Flushing Meadows in the first round with a 7-6 (12-10), 6-7 (3-7), 5-7 loss to 82nd-ranked Renata Zarazua of Mexico.

“For the first time in a while... my nerves really got the better of me, and it kind of became a little bit paralysing,” said Keys, the runner-up in New York to good friend Sloane Stephens in 2017 and a semi-finalist here in 2018 and 2023.  “I felt like I was just slow. I wasn’t seeing things the way that I wanted to, which resulted in a lot of bad decisions and lazy footwork,” she added.