Coco Gauff kicked off her US Open adventure with a 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, Gauff arrived in New York as the home favorite and is already eyeing a third Grand Slam crown 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 in the second round. "I wasn't that nervous today, which was a shock," Gauff said after the match, smiling as she walked back onto the court.
"When I stepped onto the surface I could feel a grin trying to break through." From the first point, Gauff established dominance, securing the only break of serve in the opening set and wrapping it up in just over thirty minutes. World No. 53 Sonmez displayed flashes of talent, producing a series of impressive winners, including a blistering backhand that earned applause from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd and even a nod from Gauff herself.
In the second set, Sonmez settled into a rhythm, trading breaks with the American and testing her with deep groundstrokes and occasional net approaches. Midway through the second set, Gauff found herself trailing 3‑2 and faced three break points.
She held serve under pressure, leveled the set, and then broke Sonmez to retake the lead at 4‑3. From that point onward the 22‑year‑old pulled away, as Sonmez struggled to maintain the intensity that had briefly unsettled the fourth seed. Gauff closed out the match with a comfortable margin, confirming her status as a serious contender. "I know that I can raise my level if I need to," Gauff reflected.
"I like to challenge my opponent to keep that level throughout the 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 today." In the women's doubles draw, Serena and Venus Williams will team up against the No.
14‑seeded duo of Hao‑Ching Chan and Maya Joint— the same pair that defeated Serena at Wimbledon earlier this summer. The Williams sisters, who 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 opening round. They had hoped to reunite at Wimbledon after Serena's return to competition in June, but a knee injury forced Serena to withdraw from her first‑round singles match against Joint, ending any immediate plans for a joint campaign at the All England Club. Serena, now 44, made her comeback this year after a four‑year hiatus, only to lose to Joint, a 20‑year‑old Australian, and sustain a knee injury that also forced her out of the planned doubles match with her 46‑year‑old sister.
The pair recently teamed up at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where they were upset in the first round by Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns. Elsewhere in the tournament, second‑seed Elena Rybakina advanced without trouble, dispatching teenage American wildcard Thea Frodin 6‑3, 6‑2.
Frodin, who once portrayed Serena Williams in the Oscar‑winning biopic "King Richard," expressed excitement about the experience, noting that she had not yet met Serena in person but hoped for a future encounter. On the men's side, Alexander Zverev fought back from the brink of a historic first‑round upset.
The German, seeded No. 1, needed to rally late in the match to avoid becoming the first top‑seeded man to lose his opening Grand Slam match since Ivo Karlović toppled Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon in 2003. Zverev 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, lasting 4 hours and 52 minutes. Zverev, who claimed his maiden major at the French Open and was runner‑up to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon, entered the US Open as the top seed after Sinner withdrew with a right‑knee injury.
Zverev struggled to break Sonego's serve throughout most of the night, allowing the Italian to stay in the contest and threatening a historic upset. The German finally found a breakthrough late in the fourth set, securing a crucial break that propelled him to a decisive fifth‑set victory. The last time a top seed fell in the opening round at Flushing Meadows was in 1990 when Stefan Edberg lost to Alexander Volkov.
Other notable matches included fifth‑seed Flavio Cobolli grinding out a five‑set win over Argentina's Francisco Comesana, and ninth‑seed Taylor Fritz—one of the United States' best hopes for a home title—defeating fellow American Darwin Blanch in straight sets. French veteran Gaël Monfils, who announced his retirement at the end of the season, celebrated his 40th birthday with a dominant performance, beating Adolfo Alvarez 2‑6, 6‑2, 6‑1, 6‑0. 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, allowing fans to follow the action without a contract.
The tournament also features the Laver Cup later in September, which will be shown live on Sky Sports from the O2 in London.