Just In: Defending champion Gauff rolls into US Open second round

No.3 seed Coco Gauff got her US Open title defense off to a victorious start on Monday with a 6-2, 6-0 win over France’s Varvara Gracheva on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Gauff, the American No.1, took just 66 minutes to cruise past 66th-ranked Gracheva.

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 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.

Racking up victories: The 20-year-old 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.

This is already Gauff’s sixth main-draw appearance at the tournament. She made her US Open main-draw debut as a 15-year-old wild card in 2019, where she reached the third round before falling to defending champion Naomi Osaka.

It has been an upward trajectory for Gauff from there, culminating with a scintillating summer last year, when she won her first WTA 500 title in Washington, her first WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati, and ultimately her first major at the US Open.

Repeat performance: Gracheva had her own Grand Slam breakthrough this year. She made her first Grand Slam Round of 16 at Roland Garros, in her first time representing France at that event. The 24-year-old had already reached the US Open third round in 2020 and 2022.

But Gauff had defeated Gracheva handily in their sole prior meeting, a 6-1, 6-1 dismissal during her successful Auckland title defense this January. With another defeat of Gracheva as a defending champion under her belt, Gauff surely hopes that will lead to a similar result this fortnight.

Break point brilliance: Gauff faced a total of six break points in her first three service games, but she found sterling serves when it mattered and saved them all. By contrast, Gauff converted two of her three break points in the first set, jumping far ahead on the scoreboard despite a number of tight games.

Gauff took control in the second set, racing out to a 5-0 lead. In the final game, Gracheva had two more break points, but Gauff swatted both away with aces. Gauff’s 10th ace of the day set up match point, and the American closed from there, finishing the match 8-for-8 on break points saved.