NEW YORK—Daniil Medvedev had an easy start to his U.S. Open title defense, beating Stefan Kozlov 6–-2, 6–4, 6–0 on Monday.
Simona Halep had another early exit, this one coming in a memorable first tour-level win for Ukrainian Daria Snigur.
Snigur upset the No. 7 seed 6–2, 0–6, 6–4, then struggled through tears to explain what the victory meant to her family and her country, which is at war with Russia.
On the same Arthur Ashe Stadium court where that night Serena Williams was set to begin what could be the final tournament of her career, the top-seeded Medvedev looked just as strong as he did in sweeping past Novak Djokovic in last year’s final for his first major title….