Coco Gauff is gearing up for a challenging U.S. Open as she seeks to become the first woman since Serena Williams to secure consecutive titles. The 20-year-old American will begin her campaign on Monday against Varvara Gracheva of France, following a difficult summer season.
Gauff’s recent performances have raised concerns, including a fourth-round exit at Wimbledon against compatriot Emma Navarro, and a third-round loss at the Olympics to Donna Vekic of Croatia, who ultimately took home the silver medal. Her struggles continued with a disappointing showing in Toronto, where she fell to Diana Shnaider of Russia in the third round. At the Cincinnati Open, where she was the defending champion, Gauff struggled with nine double faults in a second-round defeat to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.
Despite the setbacks, Gauff remains focused on turning things around. “I’ll try to take the positive out of it, and do better next time,” she stated, expressing a desire to replicate her success from the previous year when she captured her first Grand Slam title by defeating Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
As the competition in New York looms, Gauff acknowledges the pressure of expectations but understands the long road ahead in her career. “I have time,” she remarked. “Obviously, I want to win now because I’m used to winning so early, but I think I’ve taken a step back and realize I have another 10 years in this sport, so I want to enjoy it.”
Gracheva, currently ranked 66th in the world, poses a less daunting challenge, having not advanced past the first round in her previous two U.S. Open appearances. Her best Grand Slam performance occurred earlier this year at the French Open, where she reached the fourth round. Gauff has previously faced Gracheva, securing a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory in their meeting in January at the Auckland quarterfinals.
In other matches on Monday, second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka will compete against Australia’s Priscilla Hon, and eighth-seeded Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova from the Czech Republic will take on Spain’s Marina Bassols Ribera. The top-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland is set to debut on Tuesday against Russian Kamilla Rakhimova. Swiatek is the reigning U.S. Open champion.