Jha Moves Into to the Round of 32 as Zhang's U.S. Smash Run Ends

Kanak Jha and Lily Zhang opened the main draw with victories on Monday to advance to the singles Round of 32 at the 2026 U.S. Smash.

Jha defeated No. 14 seed Shunsuke Togami (JPN) 3-2 (11-6, 12-10, 4-11, 7-11, 12-10) at the 2026 U.S. Smash. He raced to a two-game lead by winning the opening games 11-6 and 12-10 before Togami responded to level the match with victories in the third and fourth games.

“At ten seven I just said, okay, try to just play. If I can make it to ten nine, then anything is possible,” Jha said after the match.

In a closely contested deciding game, Jha held his nerve to edge out a 12-10 win and secure his place in the next round.

“It's a big boost of confidence just to win. I mean, I think the match could have been better, but to win is just an amazing feeling,” Jha added.

Jha will play England’s Tom Jarvis tomorrow at 11:20 p.m. ET / 8:20 p.m. PT on Table 1.

Lily Zhang advanced to the women's singles Round of 32 after a composed opening-round performance against Jia Nan Yuan of France.

“I feel like in the beginning we were both working out our nerves. You know, first game I took that with a decent margin. That game, she took it with a decent margin. So I feel like then it started getting a lot closer back and forth,” Zhang said following her match.

Backed by the home crowd, Zhang weathered key moments after dropping the second game before closing out a 3-1 (11-3, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9) victory.

Zhang's singles campaign came to an end in the Round of 32 after falling to Germany's Ying Han in straight games, concluding her run at the 2026 U.S. Smash.