Coco Gauff kicked off her US Open campaign with a convincing straight‑sets victory over Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, while the legendary Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, are slated to meet Maya Joint and Chan Hao‑Ching after Tuesday’s draw. Fresh from her triumph at the Cincinnati Open, the home‑favorite Gauff arrived in New York with confidence, eyeing what could become her third Grand Slam crown after her breakthrough win in 2023. The 22‑year‑old American has reached at least the fourth round in each of the last four editions of the tournament, and she now looks ahead to a second‑round clash with either Russia’s Daria Kasatkina or Spain’s Paula Badosa.
"I wasn’t that nervous today, which was a surprise to me," Gauff told the crowd after the match. "When I walked back onto the court I could barely keep a smile from showing." From the opening game Gauff dictated play, breaking Sonmez’s serve once in the first set and sealing the opener in just over thirty minutes. World No.
53 Sonmez displayed moments of brilliance, rattling off a series of powerful winners, including a blistering backhand that earned applause from the Arthur Ashe Stadium audience and even drew a nod from Gauff herself. In the second set Sonmez settled into a rhythm, trading breaks with the American and testing her with deep, penetrating groundstrokes and occasional net approaches.
Gauff felt the pressure when she fell behind 3‑2, but she saved three break points, held serve to level the set, and then broke Sonmez again to regain the initiative at 4‑3. The American’s composure shone through as she pulled away, while Sonmez struggled to maintain the high level that had briefly unsettled the fourth seed.
Gauff closed out the match comfortably, finishing with a 6‑4, 6‑3 scoreline. "I know I can raise my level if I need to," Gauff reflected.
"I like to challenge my opponent to keep that intensity for the whole match, and if they do, I clap my hands and walk off with my head held high. I was able to settle down today." In the doubles draw, the Williams sisters will reunite to face the pair of Hao‑Ching Chan and Maya Joint – the Australian who upset Serena at Wimbledon earlier this summer. The sisters, who captured the US Open women’s doubles titles in 1999 and 2009, last partnered at a Grand Slam in New York in 2022, where they fell in the opening round. They had hoped to team up again at Wimbledon after Serena’s return to competition on grass, but Serena withdrew after sustaining a knee injury in her first‑round singles match against Joint.
Serena, now 44, made her comeback this year after a four‑year hiatus, but the knee issue forced her out of the scheduled doubles match with Venus, who is 46. The pair had recently teamed up at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, losing in the first round to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.
Joint and Chan are seeded 14th in the women’s doubles field, and the first round of that competition begins on Thursday. Second‑seed Elena Rybakina also advanced, defeating teenage American wildcard Thea Frodin 6‑3, 6‑2. Frodin, who once portrayed Serena in the tennis scenes of the Oscar‑winning film "King Richard," said she hopes to meet the real Serena soon, noting that Will Smith had reposted one of her social‑media posts, which she described as a "cool experience." On the men’s side, Alexander Zverev fought back to avoid becoming the first top‑seeded man to lose his opening Grand Slam match since 2003. He edged Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 6‑4, 3‑6, 6‑7(7), 7‑5, 6‑4 in a marathon that stretched into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Zverev, who claimed his first major title at Roland‑Garros and was runner‑up to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon, entered the US Open as the No. 1 seed after Sinner withdrew with a knee injury.
Zverev struggled to break Sonego’s serve for most of the night and was on the brink of becoming the first No. 1 seed to fall in his first match at a major in over two decades – a feat last seen when Ivo Karlović upset Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon in 2003. The US Open had not witnessed a top seed’s early exit since Stefan Edberg lost to Alexander Volkov in 1990. Eventually, Zverev broke through late in the fourth set, sealing a 4‑hour‑52‑minute victory.
Other notable matches included fifth‑seed Flavio Cobolli surviving five sets against Argentina’s Francisco Comesana, and ninth‑seed Taylor Fritz – a fan favourite hoping for a deep run on home soil – dispatching fellow American Darwin Blanch in straight sets. French veteran Gaël Monfils, who plans to retire at the end of the year, celebrated his 40th birthday with a dominant 2‑6, 6‑2, 6‑1, 6‑0 win over Spain’s Adolfo Alvarez. The US Open continues to be broadcast live on Sky Sports from August 30, with streaming options available on NOW and the Sky Sports app.
Fans can also look forward to the Laver Cup at the O2 in London from September 25‑27, also shown on Sky Sports.