US Open: Defending champion Gauff, Keys advance to second round

New York, Aug 27 (
Defending champion Coco Gauff got off to a winning start at the US Open with a 6-2, 6-0 win over France's Varvara Gracheva on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The victory marks Gauff's eighth straight match-win at the US Open. Last year, Gauff made history by winning her first Grand Slam title at the Flushing Meadows, becoming the first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 1999.

Gauff will face German veteran Tatjana Maria in the second round. The 37-year-old Maria, who was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2022, defeated Argentine qualifier Solana Sierra 6-2, 6-3 in her opener.

The 20-year-old Gauff has now won 15 main-draw matches in her US Open career. She is the youngest woman to collect that many main-draw singles victories at the US Open since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010, according to WTA.

Gauff's fellow Americans Madison Keys, Taylor Townsend, and Peyton Stearns joined the defending champion in the second round.

No.14 seed Keys dispatched Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-1 in just 64 minutes on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

World No.48 Townsend clinched her second-round spot with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Italy's Martina Trevisan. Townsend came back from 5-3 down in the second set, reeling off the last four games to oust former Top 20 player Trevisan.

And World No.47 Stearns moved into the second round with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over 2018 US Open quarterfinalist Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine.