By Russell Miller
The opening day of this year’s US Open has already been eventful in the women’s singles, with battling performances from some contenders in a wide-open half of the draw. The loss of Simona Halep to an inspired Ukrainian qualifier, Daria Snigur, has been the biggest story so far.
Here are the main takeaways from the first few hours of play on Monday.
Snigur Shocks Halep on Day One
20-year-old Ukrainian Daria Snigur produced an extraordinary performance on her Grand Slam main draw debut, knocking out one of the tournament’s favourites, Simona Halep, with a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4, win on the Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The qualifier came out of the blocks quickly, racing to a 3-0 double break lead, and caught the eye with her unorthodox but effective groundstrokes. But after taking the first set 6-2, Halep found a much higher level, cutting down her unforced errors from 11 to 2 between that set and the second set which she took 6-0.
In a topsy turvy battle during the heat of the day, Halep appeared to be struggling physically in the deciding set, while Snigur stayed consistent throughout, breaking twice in the decider to go up 4-1. There was a slight scare at the end for the Ukrainian, who failed to serve out the match at 5-2, and saw two match points go begging at 5-3. However, she regained her composure and took the match at the second time of asking on her serve.
Snigur will face Magdalena Frech or Rebecca Marino in a winnable second round match on Wednesday.
Sakkari Through Despite Confidence Struggles
Third seed Maria Sakkari made her way through to round two with a 6-4 3-6 6-0 win over Tatjana Maria. The Greek lost to Maria at Wimbledon earlier this year but managed her game well in the decider to pull through.
Sakkari, who is defending semi-final points from last years event, spoke candidly in post-match press about the confidence issues she has had this year, and said that ‘there were days when I didn’t want to get out of bed.’
“It was very tough but I have the right people around me; my family, my team, my boyfriend. They all really help me. My friends. It took time, because I lost myself.” She later added.
Since reaching the Indian Wells final, Sakkari has only reached one WTA semi-final since, but mentioned that she is feeling happier in New York than in recent weeks, and could be dangerous this fortnight.
Contenders Gauff and Garcia Impress
Elsewhere in the women’s draw, Coco Gauff eased to a 6-2 6-3 over qualifier Leolia Jeanjean to reach the second round in New York. The American was playing her first tournament since retiring due to an ankle injury in Cincinnati, but showed no signs of any physical issues, and is a huge threat on the bottom half of the draw. She faces Elena-Gabriela Ruse or Daria Saville next.
Cincinnati champion Caroline Garcia also impressed in round one, with a 6-2 6-4 win over Kamilla Rakhimova. The 17th seed is riding high on confidence after winning three titles this summer and takes on Anna Kalinskaya in round three.
There were also straight-set wins for 18th seed Veronika Kudermetova over Donna Vekic, and a 6-0 6-0 demolition from 15th Beatriz Haddad Maia over Ana Konjuh. The in-form Brazilian who beat Iga Swiatek en route to the final in Toronto faces Bianca Andreescu next.
