They rolled out a red carpet on one side of Arthur Ashe Stadium and on the opening night of this US Open, sport gave way to ceremony for a few minutes: New York City Mayor Eric Adams addressed the crowd, a nine-year-old child sang about stars and stripes. And then another young girl—barely twice her age—appeared for the first leg of what it was hoped might be her crowning fourteen days.
Since 2017, no American woman has won here. None of the other 42 American players in the main singles draws face the excitement and anticipation swirling around Coco Gauff. But the 19-year-old landed in New York in the shape of her life and with renewed hope to fulfill her immense promise. Of winning a first Grand Slam.
The first night was never meant to last like this. Laura Siegemund was never meant to cause such a fright. Yes, she had beaten Gauff in their only previous encounter. But the 35-year-old German had dropped to number 121 in the world. To reach this point, she had to get through qualifying.
But Siegemund – two-time doubles champion here – pushed Gauff through nearly three tense, thrilling hours, taking the first set and forcing the sixth seed to dig deep into her reserves of guts and courage.
Admittedly, this 3-6 6-2 6-4 victory took so long in part because of the German’s incessant delays, which irritated her opponent, the umpire and the crowd – including Mike Tyson and the Obamas.
Coco Gauff pulled off a thrilling comeback victory in the opening round of the US Open
Coco Gauff plays a forehand return against Germany’s Laura Siegemund during her win
Barack and Michelle Obama smile Monday during Coco Gauff’s first-round victory
But make no mistake: home favorite Gauff flirted with a first-round exit for the second consecutive Slam. Only after a gigantic opening game of set two, when Gauff finally broke after 26 minutes and eight chances, did the tide start to turn.
Even then she threatened to throw it away to the end. Much tougher testing lies ahead — defending champion Iga Swiatek could wait in the quarterfinals — and there will be concerns about Gauff’s first-serve numbers (less than 50 percent) and her 34 unforced errors.
But perhaps given the pressure, the opportunity, and Siegemund’s fearless brilliance throughout the first hour, Gauff also deserves huge praise.
All the hope and all the hype is there because since the first round defeat at Wimbledon, this teenager has changed her team and turned her fortunes around. Her first WTA 500 title and first WTA 1000 crown were both achieved in the past month. Her past thirteen games have now resulted in twelve victories.
But she’s yet to get past the quarterfinals here, and a nation’s weight can bring down even the broadest of shoulders — especially at a time when America is clamoring for a new superstar.
Laura Siegemund of Germany serves against Coco Gauff on Monday night in Queens
In any case, Gauff has known very little else since her Wimbledon breakthrough at the age of 15. She used to be the future. Now, at just 19 years old, hope has turned into expectation.
When Gauff came across Arthur Ashe, her ears were covered with headphones, even though nothing could drown out the sound. She also wore fluorescent yellow, despite never risking getting into the shadows.
Instead, Gauff complained about camera flash during a tricky opening set as she struggled with Siegemund’s consistency and unpredictability. The home favorite had to save a break point in her second service game; her opponent next drew first blood.
The aggression, the angles, the touch, the drop shots. It’s no wonder Siegemund is a good doubles player. She made Gauff scramble and at one point lie on the floor with her legs spread. The American groaned against her box; the crowd tried to wake her up. It was all in vain and Gauff trudged off the field after a second break cost her the first set.
Gauff reappeared in her shots with greater resentment, and flashes of light immediately began to appear. Three break points were rejected before Gauff forced a fourth on a thrilling volley change that turned up the volume in this stadium.
Laura Siegemund, from Germany, speaks with an official during a match against Coco Gauff
Then it was Gauff’s turn to argue with the chair umpire during Monday’s game in Vlissingen
Gauff approaches the net against Laura Siegemund, left, of Germany on Monday night
The nerveless Siegemund saved it. And another. Suddenly this felt like a fork in the road. But neither of them wanted to give in and so we went on and on: break points six and seven were lost. So did several chances for Siegemund to hold on.
The first set had lasted only 43 minutes. By the time Gauff earned an eighth opening, we were up to 26 for this game alone. But eventually the American broke and Arthur Ashe got up. The crowd rose again soon after, after a frenzied run where Gauff slid to the ground, Siegmund shot the ball between her legs and the American screamed to the sky.
She had only fought her way back to 30-15 on the German’s serve, but suddenly electricity surged through the teenager. A second break provided a decider and Gauff broke again at the start of the third.
Finally she started to open up and play with more swagger. But Siegemund refused to budge and – with help from her opponent – clawed her way back from 5-1 to 5-4, forcing Gauff to dig in one last time.