WHAT HAPPENED: Despite her status as the next megastar of the world of tennis, Coco Gauff was just as surprised as anyone to be playing on Arthur Ashe Stadium to start her 2022 US Open journey at the USTA National Tennis Center Monday.
Once she got onto the court for the second match on Ashe, Gauff was ruthless in showing all of the skills that may make a maiden Grand Slam title a reality in a fortnight’s time.
Gauff played like the savvy veteran that the now 18-year-old has become in her ascent to the top, using her power and finesse to overmatch Frenchwoman Leolia Jeanjean 6-2, 6-3 in the first round.
Ever since making the 2017 US Open girls’ singles final as a 13-year-old in 2017, Gauff has been projected as a future champion of America’s Grand Slam, as well many others stateside and abroad.
But before ascending to the throne at Flushing Meadows, there was one thing at the top of the agenda that she had to check off first: winning a match at Arthur Ashe Stadium, something she had yet to do in two previous matches inside the stadium. (To her defense, both of those matches came against former US Open champions, Naomi Osaka and Sloane Stephens.)
“I literally told myself last night or this morning, I said, ‘You know what, I'm just going to go out there and have fun, enjoy the moment. Who cares if I win on Ashe or not,’” Gauff said. “I'm sure there are going to be other opportunities. But it is nice to break the barrier [of winning on Ashe].”
Jeanjean, who made the third round of Roland Garros in her first-ever WTA main draw event in May, saved two break points to hold serve in the opening game, a harbinger for what Jeanjean would be up against in almost every service game. At 1-1, Gauff won four consecutive points after Jeanjean went up 30-0 for the first of the American’s four breaks of serve in the match. Jeanjean’s subsequent service game saw her save six break points, but Gauff eventually broke through on her seventh chance to go up a double break at 4-1, effectively ending the competitive nature of the first set.
Gauff, on the other hand, had an easy time on serve, winning an astounding 91 percent of her first serve points while not facing a single break point in the match.
After taking care of business in the daytime, Gauff will come back to Arthur Ashe Stadium for a second time Monday to watch six-time US Open singles champion Serena Williams—her idol—play in the first evening match against Danka Kovinic, a match that could end up signaling Williams’ final match as a professional.
“I feel like eight-year-old me would want to see this,” Gauff said. “Because I'm in the tournament, usually I don't like to stay at the site [after a match], but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I said that I've gotta go and I heard that something special is going to happen.”
WHAT IT MEANS: The US Open is the only Grand Slam that Gauff has yet to reach the second week in. Gauff came one match away from her first major title in the spring, losing to Iga Swiatek in the Roland Garros final. She has also reached the fourth round at the Australian Open (2020) and twice at Wimbledon, including her breakout performance as a 15-year old in 2019 at SW19.
MATCH POINT: No road to a Grand Slam title is easy, but what occurred next door as Gauff was about to wrap up victory may make Gauff’s path to a maiden Grand Slam a little smoother. Two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep, coming off her title victory at the WTA Premier tournament in Toronto earlier in the month, was shocked by Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur in three sets at Louis Armstrong Stadium just minutes before the Gauff-Jeanjean match ended. If seeds held, Gauff and Halep would have met in a Round of 16 match, and Halep owns a 4-0 advantage over Gauff in their head-to-head.
