Coco Gauff hasn't played that well lately, but she wasn't surprised by her super solid level in an opening-round thrashing of Varvara Gracheva at the 2024 US Open.
Leading up to this year's US Open, Gauff struggled with her tennis. Those weren't minor struggles, either, as she was beaten by a lower-ranked player in Toronto. She then lost in her first match of the Cincinnati Open, which was more than enough to sound the alarms.
Gauff dominated this part of the season last year and was the defending champion in Cincinnati, but none of that mattered. She was playing badly and lost to players that she should beat regularly.
It was enough for some to rubbish any chance of her defending her trophy in New York. Chris Evert expressed doubt in her chances, having watched all of her matches at the Olympics and since then.
Andy Roddick, who worked with Gauff on her serve, also doesn't see her chances too optimistically. He said that she wouldn't make the quarter-final, let alone win the event again. There was just a lot of skepticism around her chances in New York.
She heard all of it and admitted to the media that she's still using those who don't believe in her as fuel. There were not many of them after last year, but some people still think it was a one-off.
There was a lot of interest in how she would deal with that in her first match. She did incredibly well after settling nicely following a hard-fought few opening games.
It was a hugely important win for Gauff because it was an easy victory that showed that the American still had the level she had when she won the trophy last year.
"So I walked on court and I initially waved, and then I got nervous because I saw how big the crowd was, and then I looked down. That was my honest thoughts. Once I started the warmup, I was fine."
"I wasn't surprised about my level because I was practicing really well this week. It was a really good practice week."
It was great to hear Gauff feeling confident in her level after a solid practice week. She must be confident in her game to go deep at the event. She also feels different about her game this week compared to previous weeks.
In the past few weeks, she has not felt great in practices, but this week, she has felt really well, and it clearly shows on the court as well.
"So honestly, I was just telling myself that I'm ready, I had a great practice week, I feel like I'm finding my game, whereas the other two tournaments that I played at, even the practice sessions I was doing, I just felt off."
"So this week I just felt like I was really finding my game. I was confident going in today. I knew based off how I was practicing I can find my game regardless of the scoreline. Then it's just about executing."
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