Coco Gauff begins title defence with victory

Coco Gauff got her US Open title defense off to a victorious start on Monday with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Varvara Gracheva on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday.

The 22-year-old American No.1, Gauff, took just 66 minutes to cruise past the french woman Varvara Gracheva and booked her place in the second round in New York.

“I thought I played well today,” Gauff said afterwards in press. “I served well. Can’t ask for a better start into this tournament, so hoping to continue to get better as the week, two weeks go by.

“This week I just felt like I was really finding my game. I was confident going in today. I knew based off how I was practicing I can find my game regardless of the scoreline. Then it’s just about executing.”

The victory marks Gauff’s eighth straight match-win at the US Open. Gauff claimed her first Grand Slam title here last year, becoming the first American teenager to win the US Open title since Serena Williams in 1999.

Gauff has now won 15 main-draw matches in her US Open career. She is the youngest woman to collect that many main-draw singles victories at the US Open since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.

Gauff will face German veteran Tatjana Maria in the second round. The 37-year-old Maria, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2022, defeated Argentine qualifier Solana Sierra 6-2, 6-3 in her opener. Gauff won their lone prior meeting 6-4, 6-1 at 2023 Auckland.

Elsewhere, No.7 seed and Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen escaped the upset in a blockbuster US Open first round, coming from a set down to defeat wild card Amanda Anisimova, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Zheng will next face Erika Andreeva, who held off Yuan Yue 6-3, 7-6(7). Andreeva, at a career high of No.75 after reaching her first WTA quarterfinal last week in Monterrey.

Wang Yafan was the first player to book her place in the second round, advancing when No.9 seed Maria Sakkari retired after losing the first set 6-2. Sakkari was competing for the first time since the Paris Olympics, having pulled out of Toronto and Cincinnati due to a shoulder injury.

Former semifinalist and No.27 seed Elina Svitolina had to battle hard to hold off Maria Lourdes Carle 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 2 hours and 20 minutes. The Argentinian impressed with her heavy forehand and a number of pinpoint passes, but Svitolina upped her aggression over the course of the match, hitting 22 out of her 29 winners in the second and third sets.

No.12 seed Daria Kasatkina claimed her third win in three meetings with Jaqueline Cristian for a 6-2, 6-4 victory. It was the most straightforward of those wins: at Doha 2022, Cristian was forced to retire when leading by a set; and in the Charleston quarterfinals this April, Kasatkina had needed to come from a set down to win.

No.24 seed Donna Vekic won her first match since claiming the Olympic silver medal a month ago, defeating qualifier Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 6-4.

No.26 seed Paula Badosa raced past Viktorija Golubic 6-0, 6-3 in just 69 minutes.

Qualifier Maya Joint delivered an impressive 6-4, 7-5 win over Laura Siegemund in her tour-level debut. The 18-year-old Australian led 5-0 in the second set before Siegemund pegged her back with a run of five games, but Joint gathered herself to close out the match on her fourth match point.