WHAT HAPPENED: Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia is no stranger to success at the US Open. A former World No. 11, her best Grand Slam tennis has been here on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The current World No. 45 reached the semifinal here in 2018, where she lost to Serena Williams, and she made two quarterfinal appearances in 2016 and 2017.
This year, her first-round US Open match against teen phenom Cori “Coco” Gauff, a player poised for success after a sensational 2019 season, would be no easy task. She would have to put together her best tennis to hold off Gauff’s power, finesse, and athleticism.
But the Gauff of 2019 was not in full force in Monday’s opening round match in Louis Armstrong Stadium. The young American struggled with serves and unforced errors all match long, allowing the No. 31 seed to steal a victory, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, and end Gauff’s run early at the 2020 US Open.
It was the first WTA Tour-level win of the season for the 30-year-old Latvian, who fell in the first round of all seven of her previous tournaments of 2020.
“There were a lot of nerves in the first two sets, and I had some problems with my eyes, I couldn’t see very well in the second set. But I stayed calm and took my chances,” Sevastova said after the match. “I have such amazing memories here from years before. So I can see success for myself, and finally I won a match!”
Despite a trade of service breaks to open the match, Gauff’s speed and athleticism were on full display early, as she ran down drop shots and near winners from the Latvian. But a shaky and unreliable service game from the young American allowed Sevastova to take a 5-3 lead. Soon after, Gauff’s fifth double fault set up triple set point, and a wild volley struck wide gave Sevastova the one-set lead.
Gauff’s early 2-0 lead in the second set slipped away from her grasp just as quickly as she had taken it, as her 10th double fault on the match gave the Latvian the break and an eventual 4-2 lead.
In the critical seventh game, Gauff displayed brilliant tennis to get ahead 40-15 on a lob winner. A double fault off Sevastova’s racquet gave the American a glimmer of hope to stay within striking distance. She took full advantage of the gift she was given and earned another break to regain the lead at 5-4. When the 11th break of the afternoon put Gauff in position to serve for the set at 6-5, the fire of 2019 was reignited and Gauff took the set to force a third.
Unlike the first two sets, there wasn’t a single break of serve in the third until the last game, when a netted shot from Gauff’s racquet broke the American and sealed the match.
WHAT IT MEANS: Gauff finished the match with 13 double faults, making 61% of first serves, and 40 unforced errors on the match. Sevastova finished with 42 unforced errors.
Gauff admitted that at this stage in her young career, the six-month break from tennis this year did not make it easy for her to improve upon her sophomore WTA season.
“The main part that hurt was just getting matches under my belt, getting experience,” she said. “That's what I need on tour. I'm playing against people older than me who have been in more situations, difficult situations, than I have. I think the biggest thing is I just need experience.”
This certainly won’t be the last fans have seen of the American teen sensation at the 2020 US Open. Having won a title together last season at Washington, Gauff will team up with Catherine McNally in the women’s doubles draw, setting up an all-American, all-teen showdown with Hailey Baptiste and Whitney Osuigwe in the first round.
MATCH POINT: Sevastova is in the same half of the 2020 US Open draw as Naomi Osaka, top seed Karolina Pliskova, No. 6 Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber, so she’ll really have to ride the momentum from this win to continue through to Week 2.
