WHAT HAPPENED: No. 6 seed Coco Gauff opened her 2023 US Open campaign under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium Monday night in dramatic fashion with a comeback win over qualifier Laura Siegemund of Germany, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the second round.
In a match that Gauff’s newly recruited coaching consultant Brad Gilbert might have called “winning ugly,” the American had to dig her way out of a one-set deficit in which Siegemund’s seemingly air-tight game deflated the No. 6 seed for the better part of the first hour.
A two-time US Open doubles champion, the 35-year-old Siegemund brought an attacking brand of tennis early in the first set, taking the first break of the match to boost her to a 4-2 advantage against her 19-year-old opponent. The German’s precision passing shots and unrelenting net play, in which she won 10 of 13 net points in the first frame, was enough to stun Gauff’s game and earn her the first set.
A 26-minute game to open the second set on Siegemund’s racquet fell in favor of Gauff after the German netted a crosscourt forehand. As Siegemund began to unravel, Gauff jumped to a 5-2 lead and closed the set to level the match.
The beginning of the third set was mostly one-way traffic, as Gauff regained control of the points and Siegemund’s errors began piling up. When the German was penalized for her second time violation, which cost her a point, Gauff took a 5-1 lead. Siegemund reeled off the next three games, but the American eventually closed the match on her serve to advance.
WHAT IT MEANS: Perhaps one of the hottest players on the women’s tour heading into the US Open, Gauff’s summer swing saw her win 11 of 12 matches—during which she dropped only three sets—and add two hard-court titles to her résumé at Washington and Cincinnati. Her title at Cincinnati marked the American teenager’s first WTA 1000 tournament win, where she defied a 0-7 head-to-head deficit and defeated No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals.
With coach Pere Riba and Gilbert recently added to her team, Gauff has gained a new perspective on her game and hopes to surpass last year’s quarterfinal finish in New York, a result that pushed her into the Top 10 for the first time in her career. She attributes her recent success to a surge in confidence in her game and being able to trust herself even when her ‘A’ game is not there.
“I think the most I've learned over the course of this summer is that I don't have to play A-plus tennis to win. I do feel I'm much more confident in my B or C game,” she said. “I trust the work that I've done in practice. I hope that I can continue to translate that into matches. Obviously, I have the new team around me. Seeing a different perspective can sometimes just change things completely. I have a new perspective and I'm enjoying it a lot.”
Up next for the No. 6 seed will be 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva, a three-set winner over Olivia Gadecki.
MATCH POINT: Ranked No. 121, Sigemund entered the year-end Grand Slam second in the WTA for first serve percentage (75.8%). Against Gauff, Siegemund’s first serve percentage stood at 80%. Siegemund finished the match winning 33 of 53 net points. Gauff struck 34 winners, including 7 aces.
