Medvedev wins easily and launches his tournament

Obvious introduction for world number one Daniil Medvedev. The Russian won in three sets against the American Stefan Kozlov (6-2/6-4/6-0) in 2h01 of play. He will face the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the next round. Medvedev won his first Major in New York last year by beating Novak Djokovic in the final, thus depriving the Serb of a Grand Slam. Then he continued with a lost final at the Australian Open in January against Rafael Nadal. At Roland-Garros, his least successful Major, Medvedev lost this year in the round of 16 and he did not play at Wimbledon, the grass-court tournament having refused Russian and Belarusian players in retaliation for the war in Ukraine. .

On Monday, for the first match of the US Open on the huge Arthur-Ashe court, Medvedev took his revenge on a player who had beaten him in their only previous confrontation, in juniors. “In juniors, he was unplayable. I’m two years older than him, an age difference normally insurmountable in juniors, but he crushed me. I’m glad I got my revenge.” commented Medvedev, happy to have been able to rely on his huge serve (10 aces and a success of 76% on the points played on his first ball). The Russian also had 40 winners for 20 unforced errors. “The conditions were not easy, with this heat and this humidity”he admitted.