Coco Gauff vows to win US Open again after beginning her title defence in style
By Jonathan Veal, PA, New York
Coco Gauff has vowed to win the US Open again after beginning the defence of her 2023 title in style.
The American claimed her first grand slam title 12 months ago and kicked off her 2024 campaign by dropping just two games in a 6-2 6-0 rout of Varvara Gracheva on Arthur Ashe.
Gauff has not been in the best of form in recent months but is hoping a return to New York can spark a resurgence.
She said: “I’m not going to put pressure on myself on my victory lap.
“I’m treating this tournament like if you’re defending something it means you won.
“If you did it, it means you’re going to do it again. Whether I do it again this year again or not, I am going to do it again.
“Whether it’s 2024 or not, I will do it again.
“The last couple of weeks were tough, and I was like, ‘I have to do this and do that’, but I don’t have to prove anything to anyone except myself.
“So this whole week or two weeks are just about proving all the expectations that I have on myself.
“I have a lot left to give this game, and whether that’s going to happen this year or in the future, I have many more years coming back here, and I’m not going to win every year.
“So I think just that perspective and just having the belief that I can but not the expectation that I should.”
Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng survived a scare against home favourite Amanda Anisimova.
Anisimova started strongly on Louis Armstrong and surged to the opening set.
But Zheng, who stunned Iga Swiatek on her way to gold in Paris earlier this month, recovered to record a 4-6 6-4 6-2 success.
Madison Keys, seeded 14th, got her campaign up and running with a 6-4 6-1 win over Katerina Siniakova.
There was also an early win for Elina Svitolina, who came from a set down to beat Argentinian Maria Lourdes Carle, but ninth seed Maria Sakkari was an early casualty as she retired injured with a shoulder injury after losing the first set to Yafan Wang.
Former champion Sloane Stephens will be having nightmares about her first-round exit.
The American opened the night session and looked like she would be having an early night as she won the first nine games against Frenchwoman Clara Burel to lead 6-0 3-0.
However, she was unbelievably unable to finish the job, despite getting the chance to serve for the set in the decider.
Burel put in an inspired performance to win 0-6 7-5 7-5.
Last year’s runner-up Aryna Sabalenka had a much more straightforward evening’s work as she beat Priscilla Hon in straight sets in Louis Armstrong Stadium.