NEW YORK — World No. 2 Elena Rybakina and former champion Coco Gauff breezed into the second round of the US Open on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
Rybakina, eyeing a third Grand Slam title and the world No. 1 ranking, beat US teen Thea Frodin, 6-3, 6-2.
Gauff showed off her immensely improved serve in a confident 6-3, 6-4 victory over 53rd-ranked Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey.
Gauff blazed through the opening set before Sonmez upped her game, recovering an early break in the second and briefly taking the lead before Gauff regrouped.
“I think I was just trying not to panic,” Gauff said. “She started coming to the net and playing great tennis.
“That 3-all game was real important,” added Gauff, who saved three break points in the sixth game and broke in the next for a lead she wouldn’t relinquish.
World No. 2 Rybakina and fourth-ranked Gauff are two of the three players, along with No. 3 Jessica Pegula, who have a chance to supplant Aryna Sabalenka atop the world rankings in New York.
Gauff would have to add a second US Open title to the one she captured in 2023 while Kazakhstan’s Rybakina could do it just by reaching the semifinals.
Kazakhstan’s Rybakina showed little sign of the left heel injury that forced her out of her quarterfinal in Cincinnati this month.
She saved both break points she faced in a polished performance against the big-hitting if erratic American, who was playing her first Grand Slam main draw match on a wild card.
“I’m happy with the match. Especially when you don’t know your opponent, it always can be dangerous, but overall I’m happy with the first match and how it went,” the world No. 2 from Kazakhstan said.
“It’s a great result after 10 days from that kind of injury,” added Rybakina, who was unable to walk without pain for several days and is still carefully managing her training, rest and treatment.
Women’s French Open champion Mirra Andreeva also advanced easily, cruising past Indonesia’s 36th-ranked Janice Tjen, 6-2, 6-2.
Andreeva, seeded fifth, has had a lackluster run on North American hard courts since her scintillating run to a first Grand Slam title in Paris.
But she was dialed in as she produced her second win over Tien in less than two weeks.
After a tough win against the Indonesian in Cincinnati, Andreeva said, “I was just trying to be very aggressive.”
