US Open - Day 1: Champs start title defence with a bang

Coco finds perspective

Coco Gauff’s summer may have not gone as well as she would have hoped – losing early at the Olympics, Toronto and Cincinnati – but the American No.3 seed kicked off her US Open title defence in New York with a bang, needing just 66 minutes to dismiss France’s Varvara Gracheva 6-2, 6-0 during Arthur Ashe stadium’s day session on Monday.

The 20-year-old Gauff fired 10 aces and saved all eight break points she faced to book a second-round meeting with Germany’s Tatjana Maria.

Asked on court about her strong start at the Open, Gauff said: “Somebody commented on my TikTok, and they were just like, ‘You've won in life, literally and figuratively and there's no point of putting pressure on yourself on a victory lap’.

“So I'm just treating this tournament like that. If you defend something, that means you won something. If you did it, that means you can do it again. So whether I do it again this year or not, I’m going to do it again, whether it's 2024 or not, I will do it again.”

Gauff later elaborated on her mindset as the defending champion during her press conference, adding: “I think just learning and just realising that 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.”

With her success on Monday, Gauff is now the youngest player to secure 15 women’s singles wins at the US Open since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.

Djokovic ties Federer

Another defending champion to ease into the second round on Monday was Novak Djokovic, whose first on-court appearance since clinching gold at the Olympics saw him defeat Moldovan Radu Albot 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 in just over two hours.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner stepped on court carrying two gold-coloured bags, a nod to his triumph in Paris, and walked off with a new record: the most wins by a male player on Arthur Ashe stadium (78).

The victory also means Djokovic has now equalled Roger Federer in second place on the list of most US Open men’s singles match-wins, with 89 victories against just 13 losses for the Serb.

Meanwhile, Roland-Garros finalist Alexander Zverev needed nearly three hours and four sets to overcome German lucky loser Maximilian Marterer 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2.

➡️ Full men’s singles draw

Sabalenka on target

Aryna Sabalenka began her quest to become the first female player to win both hard-court Slam titles in the same year since Angelique Kerber in 2016 with a smooth 6-3, 6-3 win over Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon.

Fresh off a title run in Cincinnati, where she defeated Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula in the semis and final respectively, the second-seeded Sabalenka is hoping to go one better than her runner-up showing in New York last season.

The two-time Australian Open champion will next take on Italian world No.76 Lucia Bronzetti.

➡️ Full women’s singles draw

Thiem gets Ashe farewell

Back playing on Arthur Ashe stadium for the first time since he lifted the US Open trophy in 2020, Dominic Thiem did not get the win over last year’s semi-finalist Ben Shelton, but received a heartwarming standing ovation from the crowd, as he got to bid them farewell one last time in the final Grand Slam appearance of his career.  

A former world No.3 who mesmerised the tour with his explosive forehand for many years before a wrist injury halted his momentum, Thiem is one of the most popular figures in the locker room and Shelton was the first to give him his flowers after the American advanced to the second round on Monday with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

Speaking to the fans on court post-defeat, Thiem said: “Thank you so much for all your support all those years, it’s been 10 years since I played here the first time. It’s actually a really important moment for me because I’ve had the greatest success of my career here on this court, in this weird 2020 under very strange and different circumstances and unfortunately I had this success without any of you.

“So of course it was at one point a really amazing moment but on the other hand also pretty sad. So I’m super happy that I got the chance to play my last US Open, my last match here on this court and I can spend, now, some time with you guys to say thank you to all of you and to make the time up what we have missed four years ago. So it’s a really special moment and I’m very grateful for everybody who came and everybody who got me the chance to play here for one last time.”

The retiring Thiem, who also reached the final at Roland-Garros twice and the Australian Open once, plans on officially hanging up his racquets at his home tournament in Vienna in October.

Shots of the day

A Nadal-esque passing shot, a return winner with dizzying backspin, and a down-the-line backhand flick that left an opponent racquet-less and speechless – Day 1 at the US Open certainly delivered.

Shang Juncheng ⬇️

Zheng Qinwen ⬇️

Grigor Dimitrov ⬇️

Quote of the day

“I know myself, usually after huge success I will get a little bit too high, and until the reality slap me down again and I come back to the ground and trying to be humble and work hard. So this time when I get a success, I'm telling myself, I don't want to let this happen. I'm going to continue working hard, keep the stable mindset. I'm really happy to get this match, because she's really tough to face. Like you see, she was in the final of Toronto. I think one of her best surfaces is on hard court. To win this match which means I make one step forward in my mental side, yeah.”

– No.7 seed Zheng Qinwen was pleased to get a hard-fought 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Toronto finalist Amanda Anisimova on Monday, and says she won’t let her gold medal run at the Paris Olympics slow her down.

Comeback of the day

France's Clara Burel lost the first nine consecutive games of her clash with 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens before she turned things around for a 0-6, 7-5, 7-5 passage into round two.

Stephens led 6-0, 3-0, and served for the match in both the second and third sets, but Burel found a way to advance to a second-round meeting with No.20 seed Victoria Azarenka.

Breakthrough of the day

It was a big day for 16-year-old American Iva Jovic, who enjoyed a successful Grand Slam debut by upsetting Polish world No.42 Magda Linette 6-4, 6-3 in under 90 minutes.

Ranked 389 in the world, Jovic received a US Open wildcard after winning the USTA U18 National Championship.

She said she was "surprised but not surprised" by her victory over a former top-20 player and next takes on No.29 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round.

Upset of the day

Despite coming into the US Open carrying momentum from a semi-final run at Cincinnati, No.15 seed Holger Rune crashed out in the first round on Monday 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 to American world No.50 Brandon Nakashima.

This was Rune's third opening-round exit in New York, from four appearances in total.