Coco Gauff passes Siegemund test, Djokovic cruises to next round

Sixth seed Coco Gauff survived a tough test from Germany’s Laura Siegemund in a tense first-round match at the U.S. Open on Monday as she fought back to beat the German 3-6 6-2 6-4.

The U.S. teenager and the home crowd were stunned when Siegemund, the world number 121, used a variety of shotmaking and some spectacular plays at the net to take the first set.

But Gauff hit back early in the second, ending a 26-minute opening game with a break as Siegemund began to complain to the chair umpire about the serve clock being started too quickly after points.

Gauff broke again for a 4-1 lead and levelled the match when her backhand hit the net cord and threw off the timing of Siegemund’s volley.

The American 19-year-old took control in the third set, racing out to a 3-0 lead and defusing Siegemund’s net attack with some lovely lobs.

Siegemund was handed a point penalty on game point to give Gauff a 5-1 lead, a decision she disagreed with, telling the umpire that Gauff was playing “extremely fast” as boos rained down on her.

Siegemund refused to go away and broke to cut the lead to 5-3 with the help of three double faults by Gauff.

But on her second chance to serve out the match Gauff did not miss, letting out a scream and pumping her fist after Siegemund’s backhand landed in the net to end the nearly three hour match.

“It was a tough match, I wasn’t playing my best tennis. Laura, she’s not an easy opponent. She fights to the end and that’s what she did today”, Gauff said after the match.

Gauff, who is coming off a North American summer hard court swing where she won titles in Washington D.C. and Cincinnati, said she had to step up her intensity after dropping the first set.

Next up for Gauff is 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva.

In the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic on Monday made a winning return to the U.S. Open by storming past Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-0 6-2 6-3.

Unable to play at last year’s event due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19, Djokovic had not been seen on the Flushing Meadows hard courts since his loss to Daniil Medvedev in the 2021 final.

And fans let the 36-year-old know they had missed him, showering the Serb with applause as he emerged from the tunnel onto Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

It was clear that the three-time champion had missed them as well as he embraced the cheers of a record crowd of over 30,000 that included former-U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

“I was excited to go out on the court, it has been a couple of years so to come in front of you guys is always a pleasure,” Djokovic told the New York crowd. “Thanks for coming out and thanks to all the people who stayed to almost 1 a.m..

Arriving in New York on the back of an absorbing win over his young rival Carlos Alcaraz in the Cincinnati Open final, an in-form Djokovic showed the 84th ranked Muller no mercy in what was his U.S. Open main draw debut.

Firing on all cylinders, Djokovic broke the overwhelmed Frenchman to open the match and never took his foot off the gas, closing out the first set in 23 minutes with a thundering ace.