Defending champ Coco Gauff feels less pressure at 2024 U.S. Open tennis tourney

Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Defending champion Coco Gauff, who needed just 66 minutes to sweep first-round foe Varvara Gracheva, says she feels less pressure at the 2024 U.S. Open and is "finding" her game at the Grand Slam event.

The American, who clinched her first Grand Slam singles title last summer in Flushing, N.Y., dominated her French counterpart 6-2, 6-0 Monday at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

"Perspective," Gauff told reporters, when asked about the difference in her mindset this year. "I think just realizing that there is probably more pressure on maybe trying to win one than defending one.

"The last couple weeks were tough and I was like 'I have to do this and do that,' but I don't have to prove anything to anyone except myself.

"These two weeks are just about proving the expectations I have on myself. It's just learning and realizing I have a lot left to give this game, whether it's going to happen this year or in the future, I have many more years coming back here. I'm not going to win every year. I think just that perspective and having the belief that I can, but not the expectation that I should."

Gauff dominated Gracheva 10-0 in aces and 16-5 in winners, and converted 5 of 10 break points. She also totaled 21 unforced errors, compared to Gracheva's 25. Gracheva, ranked No. 66, went 0 for 8 in break point conversions against her No. 3 foe.

"I wasn't surprised about my level, because I was practicing really well this week," Gauff said. "It was a really good practice week, so honestly, I was just telling myself that I'm ready -- that I had a great practice week. I feel like I'm finding my game, whereas the other two tournaments that I played, even the practice sessions, I just felt off.

"This week, I just felt like I was really finding my game. I was confident going in."

Gauff, a Top 3 betting favorite to win the U.S. Open singles title, will face No. 99 Tatjana Maria of Germany in her second-round match. The winner will meet a Ukrainian -- either No. 28 Elina Svitolina or No. 55 Anhelina Kalinina -- in the third round.

The winner of that match will face No. 93 Emma Navarro of the United States, No. 93 Arantxa Rus of Netherlands, No. 78 Harriet Dart of the United Kingdom or No. 19 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in the fourth round.

No. 8 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, No. 20 Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus and No. 29 Paula Badosa of Spain are among the top players Gauff could play in the quarterfinals.

No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 7 Qinwen Zheng of China, No. 13 Daria Kasatkina of Russia and No. 14 Madison Keys of the United States are the top players she could face in the semifinals.

Gauff, 20, achieved a career-high No. 2 ranking in June. She ranked No. 23 in May 2022 and finished that season at No. 7.

Gauff advanced to the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open, resulting in a rise to No. 6. She moved up to No. 5 four months later. Gauff then won the French Open quarterfinals a month later, but later experienced a shocking first-round exit at Wimbledon 2023.

Gauff won her first WTA 500 title last August at the DC Open. Later that month, she also earned her first Masters 1000 crown at the Cincinnati Open.

She then stormed through the 2023 U.S. Open, beating Sabalenka in the final on Sept. 9 for her first Grand Slam singles title. That run resulted in a rise to No. 3.

Gauff later reached the semifinals of the China Open and WTA Finals. She won the ASB Classic in January before a semifinal run at the 2024 Australian Open. She then reached the semifinals at Indian Wells and the Italian Open. Gauff reached the quarterfinals of the 2024 French Open, resulting in her climb to a career-high No. 2 ranking.

She lost in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon and at the National Bank Open. She then lost in the Round of 32 at the Cincinnati Open, failing to defend her title and dropping back to No. 3 in the rankings.

Gauff earned seven singles titles and won more than $15.1 million in prize money since her WTA Tour debut in 2019 -- when she was 15 years old. She earned nearly $3 million in prize money so far this season.

She will meet Maria in her second-round match Wednesday. Second-round coverage of the 2024 U.S. Open will air from noon to 11 p.m. EDT on ESPN and from 7 to 11 p.m. on ESPN2.