US Open: Defending champion Gauff races into second round

American Coco Gauff, the No 3 seed, won against Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva 6-2, 6-0 to advance to the second round of the US Open in New York on Monday.

The defending champion’s victory was powered by a strong performance behind the first serve, with Gauff firing down 10 aces an winning 72 percent of first serve points. She was also strong from the back of the court, making 16 winners over the course of the one-hour, six-minute match.

Following her win, Gauff shared part of her mindset with the Arthur Ashe crowd:

“Someone commented on my TikTok and was like ‘you’ve won in life literally and figuratively. There’s no point in putting pressure on yourself during a victory lap’,” explained Gauff.

“I’m just treating this tournament like this. If you defend something that means you won something. If you did it that means you can do it again. Whether I do it again this year or not… I’m gonna do it again.

“Whether it’s 2024 or not, I will do it again.”

Gauff, ranked No 3, will face German Tatjana Maria next.

New York (Grand Slam), other first-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 75.000.000, most recent results first):

• Shelby Rogers vs. Jessica Pegula
• Bianca Andreescu vs. Jasmine Paolini
• Emma Raducanu vs. Sofia Kenin
• Mayar Sherif vs. Karolina Pliskova
• Anastasia Potapova vs. Leylah Fernandez
• Beatriz Haddad Maia vs. Elina Avanesyan
• Nadia Podoroska vs. Diana Shnaider
• Qiang Wang vs. Liudmila Samsonova
• Eva Lys vs. Marie Bouzkova
• Lauren Davis vs. Anna Kalinskaya
• Sara Sorribes Tormo vs. Alexa Noel
• Xinyu Wang vs. Arina Rodionova
• Yulia Putintseva vs. Linda Noskova
• Brenda Fruhvirtova vs. Varvara Lepchenko
• Anna Bondar vs. Bernarda Pera
• Anna Karolina Schmiedlova vs. Clara Tauson
• Renata Zarazua vs. Caroline Garcia
• Elena Rybakina vs. Destanee Aiava
• Jessica Bouzas Maneiro vs. Petra Martic
• Mirra Andreeva vs. Camila Osorio
• Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs. Kateryna Baindl
• Jelena Ostapenko vs. Naomi Osaka
• Caroline Wozniacki vs. Nao Hibino
• Iga Swiatek vs. Kamilla Rakhimova
• Karolina Muchova vs. Katie Volynets
• Jessika Ponchet vs. Saisai Zheng
• Katie Boulter vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich
• Cristina Bucsa vs. Sara Errani
• Danielle Collins vs. Caroline Dolehide
• Shuai Zhang vs. Ashlyn Krueger
• Taylah Preston vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
• Daria Saville vs. Ena Shibahara
• Priscilla Hon vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Clara Burel vs. Sloane Stephens
• Victoria Azarenka vs. Yulia Starodubtseva
• Lulu Sun vs. Lucia Bronzetti
• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Viktoriya Tomova
• McCartney Kessler vs. Marta Kostyuk
• Ana Bogdan vs. Arantxa Rus
• Julia Grabher vs. Elena-Gabriela Ruse
• Barbora Krejcikova vs. Marina Bassols Ribera
• Madison Keys vs. Katerina Siniakova
• Magda Linette vs. Iva Jovic
• Ajla Tomljanovic vs. Ann Li
• Chloe Paquet vs. Harriet Dart
• Emma Navarro vs. Anna Blinkova
• Veronika Kudermetova vs. Elise Mertens: monday
• Martina Trevisan vs. Taylor Townsend: monday
• Peyton Stearns vs. Lesia Tsurenko: monday
• Tamara Korpatsch vs. Moyuka Uchijima: monday
• Maya Joint vs. Laura Siegemund: monday
• Tatjana Maria beat Solana Sierra (Q): 6-2, 6-3
• Paula Badosa (26) beat Viktorija Golubic: 6-0, 6-3
• Anhelina Kalinina beat Oceane Dodin: 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
• Greet Minnen beat Magdalena Frech: 7-5, 7-5
• Erika Andreeva beat Yue Yuan: 6-3, 7-6 (7)
• Donna Vekic (24) beat Kimberly Birrell (Q): 6-4, 6-4
• Jule Niemeier beat Dayana Yastremska (32): 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4
• Qinwen Zheng (7) beat Amanda Anisimova (WC): 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
• Elina Svitolina (27) beat Maria Lourdes Carle: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Yafan Wang beat Maria Sakkari (9): 6-2 ret.
• Diane Parry beat Xiyu Wang: 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5)
• Daria Kasatkina (12) beat Jaqueline Cristian: 6-2, 6-4