IMAGES from Day 1 of the US Open at Flushing Meadows, New York, on Monday.
Defending champion Coco Gauff overcame early nerves to cruise by France's Varvara Gracheva 6-2, 6-0 in the first round of the US Open on Monday.
Gauff was popular as ever with her home crowd as she sent 10 aces over on Arthur Ashe Stadium, showing her determination to put a string of frustrating performances behind her in New York.
Gauff suffered early exits at tune-up tournaments in Cincinnati and Toronto and there were early signs of trouble as she had five double faults in the first set.
She had to fend off three break points to hold her serve in the second game but the world number three found her footing from there, breaking her opponent's serve in the third and seventh games.
Gracheva was never able to match Gauff's firepower, with 25 unforced errors and just five winners, as the American ploughed through the second set in 27 minutes.
Gauff exclaimed with frustration as she hit the ball out of bounds to give her opponent a break point chance in the final game, but got back on track with a pair of aces before her opponent handed her the match with an error on the final point.
The 20-year-old pumped her fist with satisfaction after clinching the win and reminded fans that she was bringing a new mentality to Flushing Meadows a year after winning her maiden major.
"It was definitely a lot of pressure, this tournament, but I'm just enjoying it," said Gauff. "Whatever happens, happens."
Sabalenka cruises past Hon in first round
Aryna Sabalenka opened her US Open campaign with a 6-3, 6-3 win over qualifier Priscilla Hon on Monday, with the Belarusian fighting hard for every point in a dominant performance to wrap up the opening night action at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Sabalenka, who came up short in the final a year ago and reached the semis in 2021 and 2022, fired off 27 winners to set up a meeting with Italian Lucia Bronzetti in the second round.
"Even though I didn't play my best tennis I was fighting for every point," said Sabalenka, who arrived in New York in terrific form after winning in Cincinnati.
"She played really aggressive, great tennis today. It wasn't easy facing her in the first round."
With the New York crowd on her side, the twice Australian Open winner used her lethal forehand to break Australian Hon in the opening game and converted on another chance to close out the first set.
After trading breaks, Sabalenka converted an opportunity with a backhand winner in the sixth game of the second set.
Hon had upped her level across the board, producing only one unforced error in the second set, but could not match Sabalenka's firepower as she failed to convert on any of the five break point chances she had in the seventh game.
Sabalenka, who took time off this season to address injury issues, closed out the affair with a pair of forehand winners, pumping her fist in subdued celebration.
"I took everything I could from that little pause," said Sabalenka. "Hopefully it's going to play well for me."
Keys unlocks serve to dispatch Siniakova
Madison Keys relied on her explosive serve and powerful groundstrokes to overwhelm Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-1.
The American, a finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2017, has struggled with injuries this season but showed no sign of any lingering issues on Louis Armstrong Stadium court where she crushed 17 winners and broke her Czech opponent five times.
Nine-times Grand Slam women's doubles champion Siniakova, who won the mixed doubles gold medal at the Paris Games earlier this month, struggled with her serve. She made just 52% of her first serves and produced 11 double faults.
After a competitive opening set in the first meeting of the two veteran players, the 14th-seeded Keys turned up the aggression to break at the start of the second, and, despite being broken back, soon took total control of the match.
Keys slapped an inside-out forehand winner to hold serve at love for 5-1 and rifled a service return that Siniakova could not handle on match point to end the affair.
Keys reached the tournament's semi-finals last year where she faced Aryna Sabalenka and appeared to be rolling after winning the first set 6-0 but eventually suffered an agonizing defeat.
She began the 2024 season nursing a shoulder injury before winning the clay court Strasbourg International in May.
She was forced to retire in the third sets from her matches at Wimbledon in July and Toronto earlier this month with injuries but looked to be in excellent form on Monday.
Next up for Keys is a second-round meeting with Australian qualifier Maya Joint.
Zheng passes Anisimova test in opener
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen overcame early serving woes to move into the second round of the US Open with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over American wildcard Amanda Anisimova.
Seventh seed Zheng, a quarter-finalist in New York last year, won 73% of her first-serve points and converted six of her 11 break-point chances during a two hour 20-minute match at Louis Armstrong Stadium where she was broken four times.
Anisimova raced out to a 5-1 double break lead in the first set but then had to dig deep as Zheng broke back at love, turned aside three set points on her next serve and then broke again to get the match back on serve.
But Anisimova, having twice failed to serve out the set, found another way as she broke a misfiring Zheng for a third time to grab the first frame.
In the second set, Zheng suddenly looked more comfortable from the line, including during a four-ace game to reach 2-2 before she broke in the next game to put Anisimova on the back foot and then leaned on her serve to close out the frame.
Zheng jumped out to a double break 3-0 lead in the decider while Anisimova, who had her left foot tended to before the set and at one point winced after a shot due to discomfort in her right hand, was unable to find her way back.
Up next for Zheng will be a clash with Russia's Erika Andreeva.
Svitolina fights back to advance; Sakkari retires
Earlier, Ukraine 27th seed Elina Svitolina, a semi-finalist in 2019, advanced to the second round with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Maria Lourdes Carle of Argentina while Russian 12th seed Daria Kasatkina eased into the second round with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Romania's Jaqueline Cristian.
Greek ninth seed Maria Sakkari retired due to injury after losing the first set 6-2 to China's Yafan Wang in their first-round match.
Wang broke serve in the opening game and raced into a 5-1 lead. Sakkari needed a medical timeout to treat her shoulder and was unable to continue.
