Coco Gauff and Sascha Zverev Come Through Contrasting Openers
US Open
September 2, 2026
Coco Gauff and Sascha Zverev negotiated their first-round matches in very different ways at Flushing Meadows.
The irrepressible Gauff took just eighty minutes to negotiate her first test in straight sets. Coco is seeking her second US Open title – and has an outside chance of becoming world number one.
She beat Turkish star Zeynep Sonmez 6-3, 6-4, despite being broken once in the second set. This wasn’t vintage Coco. But she served well and did enough to start her latest Grand Slam adventure in self-assured style eventually.
Coco Gauff will be one of the favourites for Wimbledon 2027 after she managed to reach the semi-finals on grass this year.
Of her second-set trials and tribulations in New York, she said: ‘I was just trying not to panic. She started coming to the net and playing some great tennis.
‘But I know I can raise my level if I need to. I was able to settle down in the end.’
Gauff can become world number one if former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina fails to reach the semi-finals and Coco takes the title.
Gauff will have plenty of energy left in the tank after her brief and breezy opening contest.
In sharp contrast, top seed Zverev needed nearly five hours to see off Lorenzo Sonego – and was just two points from disaster in the fourth.
He finally negotiated a very tricky challenge 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7-9), 7-5, 6-4 with some trusty big serving.
It was 2am when the German cut short his post-match interview and began a routine that might just have seen him sleep before it got light in New York.
‘Sometimes these are just the kind of matches you need to get going,’ said Sascha optimistically. ‘I haven’t been playing well of late and I’m just happy I won. He would have beaten a lot of players.’
The French Open champion and Wimbledon finalist will try to gain some momentum as he progresses. Looking up to the skies with his arms outstretched, Sascha was certainly relieved.
A warm embrace with the Italian told us exactly the kind of five-set epic they had just been through together.
But Zverev will have to do better than convert just five of 22 break points going forward. That certainly won’t do if he comes up against Carlos Alcaraz at the business end of the US Open.
Coco Gauff, Sascha Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz are just the kind of sporting superstars who will make Wimbledon 2027 so special next summer, too.
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