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 take on the pair of 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 momentum and the ambition of adding a third Grand Slam crown to her résumé following her breakthrough win at the 2023 US Open.
The 22‑year‑old American has reached at least the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for four consecutive years, and her next opponent will be either Russia’s Daria Kasatkina or Spain’s Paula Badosa, depending on how the second‑round matches unfold. "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 spreading across my face." From the opening game Gauff asserted control, breaking Sonmez’s serve once in the first set and sealing the opening set in just over thirty minutes. World No.
53 Sonmez displayed moments of brilliance, unleashing a series of powerful winners, including a blistering backhand that earned applause from the Arthur Ashe Stadium audience and even a nod of respect from Gauff herself. In the second set the Turkish teenager settled into a rhythm, trading breaks with the American and testing her with deep 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. From that point on the American surged ahead, capitalising on Sonmez’s inability to sustain the high level that had briefly unsettled the fourth seed.
Gauff closed the match with a comfortable margin, demonstrating why she is considered a serious contender for the title. "I know I can raise my level when I need to," Gauff said after the win. "I like to challenge my opponent to keep that intensity for the entire match, and if they do, I clap my hands and walk off the court with my head held high.
I was able to settle down today and play my game." The doubles draw also generated excitement. Serena and Venus Williams will reunite on court to face the team of Chan Hao‑Ching and Maya Joint, the latter having defeated Serena at Wimbledon earlier this summer. The Williams 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 first round. They had hoped to team up again at Wimbledon after Serena’s return to competition in June, but Serena withdrew after sustaining a knee injury in her opening‑round singles match against Joint.
Now, at 44, Serena is back after a four‑year hiatus, but she suffered another knee setback in her recent loss to Joint, a 20‑year‑old Australian. The injury forced her to pull out of the planned doubles match at the All England Club with her 46‑year‑old sister.
The pair recently played together at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where they were upset in the first round by Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns. Joint and Chan are seeded 14th in the women’s doubles, and the first round of that competition begins on Thursday. In other news, second seed Elena Rybakina advanced with a 6‑3, 6‑2 win over teenage American wildcard Thea Frodin.
Frodin, who once portrayed Serena Williams in the tennis scenes of the Oscar‑winning biopic "King Richard," expressed excitement at the prospect of meeting the real Serena: "I actually haven’t met her yet, but I hope I get the chance soon. I saw Will Smith repost one of my posts, which was a cool experience." Turning to the men’s draw, Alexander Zverev narrowly escaped becoming the first top‑seeded man to lose his opening match at a Grand Slam since 2003.
The German, who claimed his first major title at the French Open and was runner‑up at Wimbledon to Jannik Sinner before Sinner withdrew with a knee injury, fought off Lorenzo Sonego in a marathon five‑set battle that concluded in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Zverev trailed at various points and struggled to break Sonego’s serve, but eventually found a break late in the fourth set and held on to win 6‑4, 3‑6, 6‑7(7), 7‑5, 6‑4 after 4 hours and 52 minutes of play. Historically, a top seed’s first‑round exit at the US Open is rare; the last occurrence was Stefan Edberg’s loss to Alexander Volkov in 1990.
Zverev’s victory kept that dubious record intact. Other notable matches included fifth‑seed Flavio Cobolli battling five sets to defeat Argentine Francisco Comesana, and ninth‑seed Taylor Fritz, a fan favourite hoping for a deep run on home soil, overcoming fellow American Darwin Blanch in straight sets.
French veteran Gaël Monfils, who has announced his retirement at the end of the season, celebrated his 40th birthday with a dominant 2‑6, 6‑2, 6‑1, 6‑0 win over Spain’s Adolfo Álvarez. The US Open continues to be broadcast live on Sky Sports starting August 30, with streaming options available on NOW without a contract and via the Sky Sports app. Fans can also catch the upcoming Laver Cup at the O2 in London from September 25‑27, also on Sky Sports.