The US Open crowd may have been left disappointed by a flat match between an American and a Russian on Monday night but two players of the same nationalities served up a far more entertaining contest on Tuesday evening.
Serena Williams hammered Maria Sharapova in front of a packed Arthur Ashe crowd on Day 1 and her compatriot Cori “Coco” Gauff followed suit in terms of result by downing Anastasia Potapova in a tight three-setter.
Despite being just 15 years old, Gauff has that star quality; the kind that puts bums on seats.
Indeed, even though this was her, and Potapova’s, first ever appearance in the main draw of her home Slam special ticketing measures – the kind typically only used for Slam semi-finals between the very best players on the planet – were required for media to gain access to the court.
Her run through qualifying to the fourth round at Wimbledon captured the hearts and imaginations of sports fans around the world. She now will have to learn to deal with the intense burn of the spotlight. So far, so good.
Unlike the anticlimactic Williams-Sharapova clash, “Coco Mania” lived up to the hype in a thoroughly entertaining debut US Open win.
Down a set and then a break in the final set against a fellow junior Grand Slam champion, wildcard Gauff showed her immense fighting spirit once more as she secured a 3-6 6-2 6-4 win – just her second tour-level victory in her home country – over the 18-year-old to set up a second-round clash with Hungary’s Timea Babos.
World No. 1 Naomi Osaka – who has had her own struggles since soaring to fame and fortune after back-to-back Grand Slam titles – was asked to offer her advice to Gauff going forwards.
‘I don’t think anyone would want advice from me, though,’ Osaka – who could meet Gauff in the third round here – smiled after her own battling win over Anna Blinkova.
‘Advice? I don’t know. She tends — not tends. She seems to be doing fine. I think everyone is different in the way they process things. I have actually been trying to talk to her recently, because I feel she’s a little bit like me, a little bit – well, I saw her in the locker room, and she just had her headphones on. I was, like, Oh, looks familiar.
‘I just went up and talked a little bit. She’s super sweet. Yeah, and, like, I have actually hit with her back when she was 13. She’s 15 now. Her dad and my dad are actually quite cool. So she seems to be doing great.’
Despite her young age, Gauff is not the youngest player to compete at Flushing Meadows. That honour goes to Kathleen Horvath, who turned out in New York just five days after her 14th birthday.
