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August 29, 2023,
Much is expected of her at this year’s 2023 US Open.
Understandably.
She’s an American Phenom.
At only 19, she can play like a crafty veteran, and tonight, against Germany’s 35 year old veteran Laura Siegemund, she will absolutely need to.
Coco Gauff is an American professional tennis player who has been ranked as high as world No. 4 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), reached on October 24, 2022, and world No. 1 in doubles, achieved on August 15, 2022.
Currently she is ranked a powerful number 6.
Very impressive.
For a 19 year old.
Coco has won five WTA Tour singles titles, including a WTA 1000 title at the 2023 Cincinnati Masters, and eight doubles titles, three partnering with Caty McNally and five with Jessica Pegula.
Coco rose to prominence with a win over former world No. 1 and seven-time major champion, Venus Williams, in the opening round of 2019 Wimbledon.
Now, that will get you the next best American female tennis player status very quickly.
Especially when you are often compared to her sister, one of the greatest of all time in Serena Williams.
Tonight is the night.
She walked out of the tunnel confident. This is the version of Coo Gauff that we love to see.
It was the best version of Laura Siegemund that we didn’t remotely expect to see.
Laura made it through the qualifiers to make it to tonight’s big stage. That is saying a lot.
In 2021, Britain’s Emma Raducanu did that and won the US Open.
Don’t sleep on a qualifier.
Laura kept Coco completely off balance in the first set, rushing the net, placing incredible drop shots, mixing it up with penetrating slices and striking the ball beautifully.
To the crowd’s horror and Coco’s shock, Laura won the first set 6-3.
If John McEnroe was in the both, he most likely would have said, “You can’t be serious”.
Laura was very serious. And crafty.
Amid a dreaded silence, which is saying a lot for a US Open night crowd, it was time for the second set.
It is as though the first game of the second set is going to decide the direction of the rest of the match.
It took 26 minutes.
That is correct. It is not a typo.
Twenty six minutes for one game?
That is how important it was. Especially for Coco.
The first set she allowed Siegemund to influence her to play to the German star’s game. Slices, drop shops and persistent net rushing. It is not a style that Coco is used to, especially with baseliner like Jessica Pegula as a doubles partner.
It didn’t help that Laura often was taking more than the allotted 25 seconds on the serving clock.
Now that coaching is allowed, Coco’s coach, the legendary Brad Gilbert is letting everyone, including Laura, Coco and the umpire know that. The television audience as well.
Appreciate that Brad.
After losing the first game of the second set, Siegemund is coming back down to earth. According to the WTA website wtatennis.com, she is ranked number 121 in the world, recently sliding downward 13 spots. It was hard for her to keep up the magic of the first set.
And the intricacies of it.
Time to turn to a little gamesmanship, questioning the line calls, knowing they cannot be overturned and possibly trying to irritate Coco.
Maybe.
No matter. Coco figured all of it out and pounced in the second set, 6-2.
Time for the third set.
Almost.
Laura takes over 8 minutes for a restroom break.
This match is more defining for Coco, on her home court, with a new exceptional coach and hearing the expectations from those in high circles, like the legendary Chris Evert.
In case you are keeping track, they have already been playing for over 2 hours.
Coco is starting to figure out Laura’s strategy, not being knocked out of rhythm as much. Pushing those drop shots deep.
The umpire finally warns Laura about taking too long on her serve and the German sensation appears to be collapsing.
We finally see Coco smile. It is great when you love what you do.
And do it extremely well.
73,000 thousand fans have filed in today. A US Open opening day record.
Coco surges to a 3-0 lead and then the real fireworks start.
Coco serves an ace and Laura states she was not ready.
Coco has had enough. She walks over to the umpire, reminding her that Laura has to play to the pace of the server. She is clearly upset. She makes her point but it raises a question.
When you are up 3-0, is it wise to do it then?
Is it wise to stop your momentum?
Analyst Pam Shriver, to some degree, raises that question.
After her debate with the umpire, Coco’s game starts to go down and Laura slowly begins to climb back into the match.
Coco leads 3-1 in the third set but this 5th game is critical.
She hangs on as Laura dumps a serve into the net. It is now 4-1 for Coco. Who is no doubt breathing a little easier.
There’s is a reason why Laura is ranked number 121.
Gamesmanship will get you only so far.
Then something unusual happens. Coco is awarded a point for Laura’s second time violation.
The crowd roars with approval. It is now 5-1 for Coco.
Still, Laura holds serve and it is 5-2 for the American. Laura is on life support, but it is not over yet.
It is time for Coco to close out the match but she is down 0-40 on her serve.
Can she steady the ship?
No.
What is going on? Her lead has been cut to 5-3. Only one break.
Laura’s shots are having more authority and finding their range, literally outhitting Coco, who is supposed to be the harder hitter.
Laura is making a comeback. It is now only 5-4 for Coco, who needs to serve great to end this very peculiar, intense and incredibly exciting drama filled match.
Perhaps with mild sarcasm, Laura asks the umpire if she could towel off.
Most likely Coco didn’t find it funny.
This time Coco’s focus is in the right place and she hangs on to end the set 6-4.
The titanic struggle is finally over.
Great players need to find a way to win, even though their A game has fallen down in the alphabet.
The informative team at dailymail.co.uk looked at it from another angle. They share, “Coco Gauff attracted an A-list crowd to her first-round matchup with Laura Siegemund on Monday night at the US Open, including Barack and Michelle Obama, Mike Tyson, Danny DeVito, Anna Wintour and Alec Baldwin.”
Okay, we were so engrossed in this match, we missed that.
But it helps us understand the pressure the young American is under.
No wonder she enlisted the A list mind of coaches in Brad Gilbert.
Great first round win Coco.
As tough as that match was?
It only gets tougher from here.
~ ~ ~
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Gauff
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