American tennis sensation Coco Gauff, 20, will attempt to win her second straight U.S. Open women’s championship when the 2024 tournament begins on Monday, Aug. 26 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens. The defending champion, who recently teamed up with New Balance to release an updated version of her signature shoe called the Coco CG2, will play Varvara Gracheva of France in the second match at Arthur Ashe Stadium this afternoon.
While Gauff, currently ranked No. 3 in the world, entered the 2023 U.S. Open playing well and having won the 2023 Mubadala Citi DC Open, her first WTA 500 singles title, and her biggest singles title to that point, the same cannot be said this year. Gauff, a flag-bearer for the United States at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, failed to medal in singles, doubles or mixed doubles action. This month, she lost in the second round of the Canadian Open, and last week, she was ousted in the opening round of the Cincinnati Masters. Gauff must turn things around to make a deep run in this year’s Open.
“Obviously, I wanted to go into Cincinnati and win, but I had more realistic things in my head just coming from the Olympics and, you know, switching surfaces so fast,” Gauff said when asked about her most recent tournament.
“So really, the main focus was trying to be as ready as possible for here, which, I feel like, it was a blessing in disguise I lost so early, because I was able to actually train, which I hadn’t been able to,” she said. “I do my best results when I come off a training block. I was able to train for a good week and a half and obviously still have a couple more days to do that. The last couple of practices have gone really well, which, before, during Cincinnati, I wasn’t having great practices, in Toronto, I wasn’t having great practices. Here, I’m having great practices, which, you know, doesn’t mean I’m going to go out on the match and play great, but it does give you more confidence when you’re actually practicing great the week before a tournament.”
If Gauff gets past Gracheva, her next singles match will be on Wednesday, Aug. 28.
