WHAT HAPPENED: Down but never out, 15-year-old American and wild card Coco Gauff won a thrilling 2019 US Open first-round clash of the next generation in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
From a set and a break down, Gauff rallied to lead and ultimately held off a stern fight from 18-year-old Russian Anastasia Potapova to win, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
"It was crazy. Obviously, I was nervous going out on the court. It's such a big court. Then my home Slam, so I wanted to do well," Gauff reflected after the match. "The crowd really helped me the whole match. It was really a great atmosphere to play in and a great experience for me.
"I just wanted to win so bad, I was trying to really dig deep. I was like, You got to make her play. She's not going to hand it to you."
Potapova, the fourth-highest ranked teenager in the WTA behind Amanda Anisimova, Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska, and Poland's Iga Swiatek, burst out of the gates in the opener: the world No. 74 won five of the first six games, as she routinely came out ahead in the rallies and took advantage of some erratic swings by the American from the baseline.
Though she would drop the opener, Gauff's comeback effort began to gain steam in the set's late stages. She earned her first break of Potapova's serve when the Russian served for a one-set lead the first time at 5-1, and held her own before eventually falling behind.
The crucial turning point of the match came early in the second set, after Gauff dropped her serve in the first game to again face an early deficit. She carved out three break points on Potapova's serve at 0-40, and though the Russian rallied to deuce, Gauff drew level on her fourth chance of the game.
She took her first lead of the match with a hold of serve immediately after, and ultimately won four straight games from 2-2 to pull away and force a final set.
There were more plot twists to come: Gauff built a 4-1 lead in the decider before the 18-year-old rallied to win three straight games to even proceedings, but the wild card came through in the clutch to make her US Open debut a victory in just over two hours.
"We had a couple long rallies, then I got some winners here and there. Honestly, I mean, I really don't remember the match too well because everything is still a blur. But I do remember I think that 4-All game, it was just like a lot of battling," Gauff said.
"This is my first main draw US Open, I'm playing on Louis Armstrong, second biggest court. After the first set, I was kind of like I have to reset, stop thinking about what would happen after the match, just think about what I need to do to win the second set."
WHAT IT MEANS: The match was the youngest first-round matchup in this year's women's tournament, with the pair having a combined age of 33, as two of nine teenagers in the draw.
"I think it was a good match on such a big stage so a lot of people could see it," Gauff said. "She's young, too. She's only a couple years older than me. I know we're going to see each other a lot in the future. I hope we do see each other in the future, but hopefully in the finals, not in the first round."
After facing another teen, Gauff will next face a player with a decade on her: 26-year-old Hungarian Timea Babos, who advanced to the second round when No.28 seed Carla Suarez Navarro retired due to an injury after dropping the first set, 6-2.
Babos, a former world No. 1 in doubles and world No. 25 in singles, entered the US Open ranked No. 112 and won three matches in qualifying to make the main draw.
MATCH POINT: It had been five years since a player won a main-draw match at the US Open prior to their 16th birthday. The last player to do so was another American, CiCi Bellis, back in 2014.
