Being a favourite is never easy, and Coco Gauff experienced it in her opening match at the 2023 US Open against Laura Siegemund.
Playing as one of the underdogs, without facing any expectations, can make players be really free on the tennis court and show their best tennis. On the other hand, those who are expected to win may be more prone to mistakes, and that's something that the 19-year-old American wanted to avoid in her opening match.
Taking on experienced Laura Siegemund, who has played hundreds of matches in her career on the WTA Tour, certainly didn't help Gauff succeed on her first quest at the 2023 US Open - get through the opening round.
But despite early struggles, Gauff showed why she's considered to be a favourite, and won the match in three sets. It took some time before the American knew who will be her first-round opponent, as the German player went through the qualifying, and initially, the 19-year-old didn't know which one of the qualifiers she'll have to play.
Although Siegemund, who held a positive 1-0 H2H record against the teenager, was not the best choice for Gauff, she was determined to fight and extend her five-match winning streak, which started in Cincinnati.
But in the first set, Siegemund was the better player. Surprisingly, Gauff wasn't able to create any break point chances, and thanks to that, the German could play more freely, and that resulted in two breaks of serve and a 6-3 win.
But with a star-studded attendance, Gauff couldn't just give up. A 26-minute first game in the second set proved that, and it seemed that it was the breaking point of the match, as neither of the players wanted to give up.
Gauff eventually won the game, and after adding one more break in the second set of the match, the teenager won it 6-2 and took the match into the decider.
Despite previously struggling, now it seemed that Gauff was 100% confident of what she was doing on the tennis court, as she won one rally after another. Eventually, the American won the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the second round of the 2023 US Open.
Up next, she will be facing a 16-year-old prodigy, Mirra Andreeva, who defeated Olivia Gadecki in the first round of the last major of the season.
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