Coco Gauff kicked off her US Open adventure with a commanding straight‑sets triumph over Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez, while the legendary Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, are slated to meet the pair of Maya Joint and Chan Hao‑Ching after Tuesday's draw. Fresh off her Cincinnati Open title, the home‑grown 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. Over the past four editions of the tournament, the 22‑year‑old American has consistently reached at least the fourth round, underscoring her status as a perennial contender.
In the second round she will face either Russia's Daria Kasatkina or Spain's Paula Badosa, both seasoned competitors capable of challenging any top seed. During her opening match, Gauff admitted she felt surprisingly calm on court. "I wasn't that nervous today, which was a shock," she told the crowd, adding that she was trying to hide a smile as she walked back onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
From the first game, the American displayed authority, securing the only service break of the opening set and wrapping up the set in just over thirty minutes. Sonmez, ranked No. 53 in the world, demonstrated flashes of brilliance, unleashing a series of powerful winners, including a blistering backhand that earned applause from the spectators and even drew a nod of respect from Gauff herself.
The Turkish teenager settled into a rhythm in the second set, exchanging breaks with Gauff and testing the American with deep groundstrokes and occasional net approaches. At one point Gauff found herself trailing 3‑2, but she repelled three break points, held serve, and leveled the set.
She then broke Sonmez again to regain the lead at 4‑3. From there, the 22‑year‑old pulled away, as Sonmez struggled to maintain the intensity that had briefly unsettled the fourth seed. Gauff closed the match with a comfortable margin, finishing the contest in just under two hours.
Reflecting on her performance, Gauff said, "I know that I can raise my level if I need to. I like to challenge my opponent to keep up that level the whole match, and if they do, I clap my hands and walk off the court with my head held high. But I was able to settle down." Her composure and ability to adjust mid‑match highlight why she is already being talked about as a future multiple‑Grand Slam champion.
In the women's doubles draw, the Williams sisters will reunite to face the No. 14‑seeded duo of Chan Hao‑Ching and Maya Joint.
The pair of Serena and Venus, who together captured the US Open 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 intended to make a comeback at Wimbledon after Serena's return to competition earlier in the season, but a knee injury sustained in her opening‑round singles match against Joint forced her to withdraw from the event. Serena, now 44, returned to the tour this year after a four‑year hiatus but suffered another knee setback in the match against Joint, a 20‑year‑old Australian, prompting her to pull out of the planned doubles match at the All England Club.
The sisters also teamed up at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where they were upset in the first round by Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns. Joint and Chan, the Taiwanese‑Australian pairing, will open their US Open campaign on Thursday as the women's doubles competition begins.
Among the singles action, second seed Elena Rybakina advanced with a straight‑sets win over teenage American wildcard Thea Frodin, 6‑3 6‑2. Frodin, who once portrayed Serena Williams in the tennis sequences of the Oscar‑winning biopic "King Richard," expressed excitement at the prospect of meeting the real Serena, noting that Will Smith had reshared one of her posts, which she described as a "cool experience." On the men's side, 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 inheriting the No. 1 seed when Sinner withdrew with a knee injury, fought back from a set down to defeat Lorenzo Sonego 6‑4, 3‑6, 6‑7(7), 7‑5, 6‑4. The marathon lasted 4 hours and 52 minutes, ending in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Zverev struggled to break Sonego's serve for much of the night and at one point faced the prospect of becoming the first top seed to fall in his opening match at the US Open since Stefan Edberg's loss to Alexander Volkov in 1990.
Other notable matches included fifth seed Flavio Cobolli surviving a five‑set battle against Argentina's Francisco Comesana, and ninth seed Taylor Fritz, one of the United States' best hopes for a home title, dispatching fellow American Darwin Blanch in three sets. French veteran Gaël Monfils, who announced his retirement at the end of the season, celebrated his 40th birthday with a dominant 2‑6, 6‑2, 6‑1, 6‑0 victory over Spain's Adolfo Álvarez.
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, taking place at The O2 in London from September 25‑27, which will be shown on Sky Sports as well.