NEW YORK (Reuters) – Highlights of the first day at the U.S. Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, at Flushing Meadows on Monday (times GMT):
0112 SERENA WILLIAMS MOVES INTO SECOND ROUND
Serena Williams beat Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic 6-3 6-3 in front of a vociferous crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium to move into the second round where she will face second seed Anett Kontaveit.
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List of U.S. Open men’s singles champions
List of U.S. Open women’s singles champions
U.S. Open order of play on Monday
U.S. Open order of play on Tuesday
0001 KONTAVEIT THROUGH IN 66 MINUTES
Second seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia cruised into the second round with a 6-3 6-0 win over Jaqueline Cristian in 66 minutes, firing 20 winners past the Romanian while dropping only four points on her first serve.
2235 FORMER CHAMPION THIEM KNOCKED OUT
Austrian Dominic Thiem was knocked out in the first round after 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta beat the 2020 champion 7-5 6-1 5-7 6-3.
2200 JABEUR, KEYS ADVANCE
Wimbledon finalist and fifth seed Ons Jabeur beat American Madison Brengle 7-5 6-2 to move into the second round.
Brengle’s compatriot Madison Keys, however, gave the home crowd reason to cheer after she beat Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska 7-6(3) 6-3.
2002 GAUFF WINS FOR FIRST TIME ON ASHE
American Coco Gauff won her first match at Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 6-2 6-3 victory over France’s Leolia Jeanjean.
1956 HALEP UPSET BY UKRAINE’S SNIGUR
Daria Snigur claimed one of the biggest victories of her fledgling career when the 20-year-old beat Simona Halep, 117 rungs above her in the rankings, 6-2 0-6 6-4 in the first round on her Grand Slam main draw debut.
1902 VAN RIJTHOVEN SAVES SEVEN MATCH POINTS TO ADVANCE
Tim van Rijthoven saved seven match points in the third set against China’s Zhang Zhizhen to seal an improbable comeback victory, winning 3-6 6-7(4) 7-6(9) 6-1 6-4.
1858 BERRETTINI THROUGH TO SECOND ROUND
Matteo Berrettini beat Nicolas Jarry 6-2 6-3 6-3, becoming the Italian player with the most main draw wins at Flushing Meadows with 13 victories.
1836 WU CHINA’S FIRST WINNER AT GRAND SLAM SINCE 1959
Yibing Wu became the first man from China in 63 years to win a Grand Slam singles match when he beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3 6-4 6-0.
1820 AMERICAN PAUL WINS IN FIRST FIVE-SETTER OF U.S. OPEN
American Tommy Paul came from behind twice to beat Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles 4-6 6-3 2-6 6-0 7-5 in what was the first five-setter of the tournament and his first career win at his home Grand Slam.
1815 DEFENDING CHAMP MEDVEDEV EASES PAST KOZLOV
Top seed Daniil Medvedev began his title defence at Arthur Ashe Stadium by crushing American Stefan Kozlov 6-2 6-4 6-0, wrapping up the final set in just 28 minutes.
“I remember in juniors it was impossible to beat him… He destroyed me in the Under-14s. I was happy to get my revenge today,” Medvedev said with a laugh.
1754 MURRAY CRUISES THROUGH TO SECOND ROUND
Former champion Andy Murray began his campaign with a 7-5 6-3 6-3 win over Argentine 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo, who made several unforced errors.
“Very tricky conditions, very humid and hot but I was really happy with the way I got through that one,” Murray said following his win at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
1706 SAKKARI DOWNS MARIA
Third seed Maria Sakkari overcame a wobble to beat Tatjana Maria 6-4 3-6 6-0 and gain revenge against the German who upset her en route to the Wimbledon semi-finals this year.
Also reaching the second round were Caroline Garcia who beat Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2 6-4 and Veronika Kudermetova after her 7-5 6-3 victory over Donna Vekic.
1505 PLAY UNDERWAY
Play began in sunny New York with the temperature hovering around 28 degree Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
Holder Daniil Medvedev is in action later against American Stefan Kozlov while Coco Gauff takes on Leolia Jeanjean before 23-times major champion Serena Williams meets Danka Kovinic in what is likely to be her final tournament.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar and Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Sam Holmes and Christian Schmollinger)
