Serena Williams, of the United States, waves to the crowd after defeating Danka Kovinic, of Montenegro, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships on Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, in New York.John Minchillo/The Associated Press
Serena Williams is not ready to say goodbye just yet.
In her first match at what is expected to be the last U.S. Open – and last tournament – of her remarkable playing career, Williams overcame a shaky start to overwhelm Danka Kovinic 6-3, 6-3 on Monday night in a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium with an atmosphere more akin to a festival than a farewell.
Early, Williams was not at her best. There were double-faults. Other missed strokes, missed opportunities. She went up 2-0, but then quickly trailed 3-2. Then, suddenly, Williams looked a lot more like someone with six championships at Flushing Meadows and 23 Grand Slam titles in all.
She rolled through the end of that opening set, capping it with a service winner she reacted to with clenched fists and her trademark cry of “Come on!” The more than 23,000 in attendance rose for a raucous standing ovation. There would be more, as Williams carried that terrific level into the second set against Kovinic, a 27-year-old from Montengero.
Williams will continue to play now, facing No. 2 seed Anett Kontveit of Estonia on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, 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.
In the men’s draw, the top-seeded Daniil Medvedev looked just as strong as he did in sweeping past Novak Djokovic in last year’s final for his first major title, beating Stefan Kozlov 6-2, 6-4, 6-0.
Medvedev advanced to face Arthur Rinderknech of France. The Russian is trying to become the first repeat champion at the U.S. Open since Roger Federer won five straight from 2004-08.
“I need to be at my best on Wednesday and I’m going to try to make it,” Medvedev said.
Andy Murray was another early winner, 10 years after winning the first of his three Grand Slam titles in Flushing Meadows. He had one of the first upsets of the tournament by beating No. 24 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.
“It seems like a long time ago,” Murray said of his victory over Djokovic in 2012. “A lot’s happened since then in my career.”
Djokovic couldn’t travel to the tournament this year because he isn’t vaccinated against COVID-19.
Snigur was playing her first match in the main draw of a Grand Slam. The 20-year-old wore a ribbon in the blue-and-yellow colours of Ukraine’s flag on her chest, and she put her hands around it after finishing off the victory.
She played last week in the “Tennis Plays for Peace Exhibition” to raise money to aid Ukraine. That was on Louis Armstrong Stadium, which may have calmed her nerves a bit when she was sent back out onto the same court Monday.
“I think it helped me because I was here in `Tennis Plays for Peace’ and I think it helped me a little bit,” Snigur said as she fought through tears during an on-court interview. The Ukrainian will now play Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino, who earned a 6-2, 6-3 win over Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
Halep had won 19 of her last 22 matches and recently returned to the top 10, but the U.S. Open has been the most challenging major for the two-time Grand Slam champion. She is 21-11 in New York and has lost in the first round of three of her last five appearances.
Later Monday, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., who advanced to the 2021 U.S. Open final before losing to Britain’s Emma Raducanu, was scheduled to face France’s Oceane Dodin in the evening session.
In men’s singles competition, sixth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal struggled at times with his serve, but still managed to coast to a quick 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win against Switzerland’s Alexander Ritschard.
Auger-Aliassime had 13 aces in the match, eight double faults and took four of eight break points.