Daniil Medvedev opened his US Open title defense with an easy 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 win over Stefan Kozlov. As for Simona Halep, she will have to wait at least another year to win this tournament for the first time.
On the same pitch at the Arthur-Ashe stadium, where Serena Williams is to take on what could be the last tournament of her career in the evening, Medvedev looked as dominant as he did to take the measure of Novak Djokovic in last year’s final for his first major title.
Medvedev will face Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the next round. The Russian is bidding to become the first champion to retain his title at Flushing Medows since Roger Federer won five in a row from 2004 to 2008.
“I have to be at my best on Wednesday and I will try to get there,” Medvedev said.
Andy Murray caused the first upset of the tournament. In a duel presented at the Louis-Armstrong stadium, he defeated the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, 24e seeded, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. Murray won the first of his three Grand Slam titles in New York ten years ago.
Immediately after Murray’s match, in the same arena, an even bigger upset was achieved when Ukraine’s Daria Snigur, 124e World Cup, eliminated Romania’s Simona Halep, ranked seventh, in three sets of 6-2, 0-6, 6-4.
The 20-year-old Snigur had three service breaks in the first set and two more in the third set to build a 5-1 lead.
In this third set, Halep reduced her young rival’s lead to 5-4 and even led 30-0 on Snigur’s serve in the 10e game. Snigur, however, earned the next four points to secure the first victory of his career on the WTA Tour.
It was also Snigur’s first outing in the main draw at a Grand Slam tournament.
During her match, she wore a ribbon in the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian flag at the height of her chest. After her victory, she put her hands around the ribbon.
Last week, she took part in the Tennis Plays for Peace exhibition tournament to raise money to help Ukraine. This event had also been presented at the Louis-Armstrong stadium, which possibly helped to calm Snigur.
“I think it helped me a bit because I was here for Tennis Plays for Peace,” said Snigur, who couldn’t help but shed tears during an on-court interview. .
Halep had won 19 of her previous 22 matches, including the National Bank Open final in Toronto two weeks ago, and regained her place in the top 10 of the WTA rankings.
However, the United States Open has always given him trouble. Her lifetime record in New York is 21-11, and she has lost in the first round in three of her last five appearances.
Spaniard Roberto Bautista is another top seed (16e) who packed up, losing in three sets to American JJ Wolf.
Maria Sakkari, third seed, Ons Jabeur (5e), Coco Gauff (12e), Beatriz Haddad Maia (15e) and Caroline Garcia (17e) are also part of the winners of the day in the women’s draw.