(New York) Daniil Medvedev defeated Attila Balazs 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 at the US Open on Tuesday, sending a message to consider him a favorite too, not just Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
Tournament champion in 2021, Medvedev needed only an hour and a quarter to advance to the second round.
A dozen hours after Djokovic easily won on his return to the American Grand Slam leg, Medvedev was just as intractable.
It was Djokovic that Medvedev beat in the final two years ago. The Serb then had the chance to win all the major tournaments of 2021.
Alcaraz, the world number 1, will play in the evening against Dominik Koepfer.
Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in the Wimbledon final after the Serbian got the better of the Spaniard at Roland Garros en route to the title.
Medvedev amazed in New York in 2019, then going to the final, before losing to Rafael Nadal.
His triumph in the Big Apple in 2021 remains his only major title to date.
Andy Murray, titled in New York in 2012, and Stan Wawrinka, who did the same in 2016, are on Tuesday’s daytime schedule.
2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini inflicted a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 loss on Ugo Humbert, 29e first in the series.
