The chant rang out in cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium at the U.S. Open before Coco Gauff’s first service game of her first match of her first Grand Slam tournament as a defending champion: “Here we go, Coco! Here we go!”
Coming to Flushing Meadows off a series of early exits at other events, Gauff already was down 1-0 to Varvara Gracheva on Monday, having dropped the match’s initial game at love by making four groundstroke errors. What followed was a tough, tight game, featuring 14 points across eight minutes and three break chances for Gracheva.
The important part, of course, was that Gauff saved all of those break points, claimed that game, and suddenly was in complete control on the way to a 6-2, 6-0 victory that not only put the 20-year-old American in the second round but also told her - and everyone else - that her game is in better shape than it appeared lately.
“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 ... (these) two weeks are just about proving all the expectations that I have on myself,” the No. 3-seeded Gauff said. “I have many more years coming back here and I’m not going to win every year. Just that perspective and just having the belief that I can - but not the expectation that I should.”
Day 1 at the year’s last Grand Slam tournament went about as well as possible for Gauff and another young American featured in Ashe, 13th-seeded Ben Shelton, a semifinalist a year ago who beat 2020 champion Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. It was the last U.S. Open match for Thiem, who turns 31 next week and is retiring after this season.
“Obviously she plays with a lot of passion,” Shelton, 21, said about Gauff. “You could tell that she cares out there. She’s into it every time that she’s on the court. I think that’s something that the people love.”
Gauff was not the only past U.S. Open champ on Monday’s schedule: The night session in Ashe began with 2017 winner Sloane Stephens blowing a huge lead against Clara Burel and losing 0-6, 7-5, 7-5 after taking the first nine games, followed by Novak Djokovic - whose collection of 24 Slam titles includes last year’s in New York - against Radu Albot.
