US Open 2022: Garcia qualifies, Wawrinka surrenders to Motet, Halep outside, Medvedev easy… What to remember from Monday

The US Open kicked off Monday, August 29 with Masters Day. Ahead of Serena Williams’ much-anticipated match – which could be her last – Caroline Garcia started the 2022 edition perfectly. Habes reached the second round without difficulty, leading the blue, white and red team at Flushing Meadows. They are 11 Frenchmen on the court during this first day, after bringing back Hugo Grenier as a lucky loser in the men’s draw. World number one Daniil Medvedev qualified without difficulty.

Perfect start for Caroline Garcia

Caroline Garcia is in great shape and that shows. Full of confidence with his two titles in Warsaw and especially in Cincinnati in recent weeks, the 17th seed in the tournament continued his momentum to qualify for the second round. The 28-year-old dominated Russia’s Kamila Rakimova in two sets (6-2, 6-4). Without being Imperial, Garcia dominated the match from start to finish (32 winning points vs 6) with his attacking style of play that’s been a huge hit of late. She will face another Russian, world number 60, Anna Kalinskaya, in the next round.

She’s solid Caroline Garcia!

The Frenchwoman played for her entry against Rakhimova (6-2, 6-4) #USOpen #HomeOfTennis pic.twitter.com/AP0eOlPnHQ

– Eurosport France (Eurosport_FR) August 29, 2022

A string of successes allowed the French lady to be ambitious in New York, where she has not yet made it past the third round: “I am confident that I can improve my best result in the Grand Slams [quart de finale à Roland-Garros 2017 et 3e tour à l’US Open]She said after winning. The Cincinnati title brought me a lot of positive energy. Winning a Grand Slam has been one of my goals since I started in the ring. My win in Cincinnati changed the way a lot of people thought about my chances of getting there.”

Medvedev in a trot, drunken frightened, Halep on the trap

It was not a bad surprise for Daniil Medvedev. The world number one did not tremble in front of American Stefan Kozlov (6-2, 6-4, 6-0). The score doesn’t say everything about the defending champion’s performance, far from reaching peak intensity. But against the 111th in the world, often far from the standards of the men’s circuit due to its low service speed (flashing at 100 km / h several times), it was enough. Kozlov struggled physically at the end of the match, making it easy for the world number one to win in just over two hours (2:01).

Between the ladies, Maria’s fight turned in favor of Scary. The Greek No. 3 seed dominated Germany’s Tatiana Maria without difficulty (6-4, 3-6, 6-0). If Hellene finished well, she more than once passed near the corrective entry, trailing 4-1 in the first set. But by crossing each other during every major tournament – they’ve already crossed paths in the first round in Melbourne, and in the third round at Wimbledon! Scary made the difference, despite the 39 easy mistakes he made.

Simona Halep was also pushed into the third set and it didn’t work out. The former world number one, seeded 7, was eliminated to everyone’s surprise by Ukrainian qualifying Daria Snigor (6-2, 0-6, 6-4). At twenty, Snigur was playing his first major game. Halep, the favorite after being crowned in Toronto, is out immediately at the US Open, as in 2017 and 2018.

Big surprise at the US Open!

Ranked #7 and winner of the WTA 1000 title in Toronto, Simona Halep lost to Daria Snigur (#124), feuding for her third defeat in the first round of her last 19 major slams:
USA 2017 (Sharapova)
United States 2018 (Kanebi)
US 2022 (Snigur) pic.twitter.com/ScQWTlThFW

– Game, Set and Math (JeuSetMaths) August 29, 2022

Murray and Berrettini believe, Bautista Agut stumbles

The first seed germinated in two weeks in New York is called Roberto Bautista Agut (No. 17). The Spaniard was affected by Covid-19 before his second round at Wimbledon and forced to concede, this time coming out on his debut at the hands of American JJ Wolfe, 87th in the world, (6-4, 6-4, 6-4). Don’t worry, however, for 13th seed Matteo Berrettini, Chilean winner Nicolas Jarry (6-2, 6-3, 6-3), or Casper Rudd (No. 5), who was eliminated by Kyle Edmund.

Andy Murray, 51 in the world, is not seeded, so he turned into Cadore’s executioner. Against Francisco Cirondolo (No. 24), the Scot signed one of his best matches since his return to the top by winning in three sets (7-5, 6-3, 6-3). He hasn’t won a Grand Slam match without losing a set for five years.

Andy Murray won his first straight sets at a Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2017 (beating Bayer in the round of 16). https://t.co/SUfCHU0opJ

– Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) August 29, 2022

Beautiful story of Grenier, Rinderknech passes, Tan and Jeanjean broke

Hugo Grenier, repeat offender. As at Wimbledon, the 26-year-old lost in the third qualifying round before being drafted as the lucky loser…and winning in his first round! After replacing Pablo Andujar, injured in his arm and losing in the last minute, the Frenchman, 119th on the world, beat Argentine Thomas Martin Echevery (4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4), his first success at the US Open . He will face Matteo Berrettini in the next round. He also qualified for Corentin Mutit, who dominated Stan Wawrinka for two sets before seeing the Swiss surrender (6-4, 7-6). Arthur Rinderknech was the first French player to qualify, winning the hexagram by 100% that day, against Quentin Halles (4-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-2). Daniil Medvedev is waiting for him in the second round.

Less success on the other hand for Harmony Tan, revealing the last Wimbledon tournament in the ranks of the French national team (eliminated in the round of 16). She lost to the 2019 edition winner at Flushing Meadows, Canadian Bianca Andreescu after a disjointed match (6-0, 3-6, 6-1). Yulia Gangin also exited the match after defeating Coco Gauff (6-2, 6-3).