Tennis News: Cori Gauff spoke at length about improving her serve and mentality ahead of the 2026 US Open season and both aspects were clearly visible midway through the second set of her opening match against Zeynep Sonmez.
In front of a packed crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the home favorite saved three break point opportunities in a game that lasted 9 minutes and involved six deuces to hold serve and make it 3-3.
The world number 4 tennis player then finished the match with full confidence. He secured a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Turkish national tennis player Sonmez in 1 hour 20 minutes in the same way as when he started, namely winning service games without dropping a single point.
“Actually, I wasn’t as nervous this time, which was quite surprising,” Gauff admitted. “When I stepped onto the court to warm up, I was trying not to smile. It was amazing to be back on this court. I never take this for granted and I really enjoy playing in this kind of atmosphere.”
Of course, this is the US Open — the toughest two weeks in the world of tennis — so not everything will be easy for the home players. Sonmez showed mental toughness and improved his performance in the second set, after he often went to the net to change the momentum and recovered from behind a break opportunity early in the match, making the match even more intense. However, the home tennis player made adjustments to his own strategy by adding speed to his forehand shot, which ultimately managed to break the 24 year old’s resistance.
“I’m just trying not to panic,” Gauff continued. “He started to come to the net and played really good tennis. I knew I could raise my level of play if necessary and I like to challenge opponents, letting them maintain that level throughout the match. If they managed to do that, I would have applauded and left the court with my head held high, but by then I had managed to compose myself.”
The fourth seed has now won seven of her first eight US Open rounds and has 81 Grand Slam wins since the start of the 2020 season. Only Iga Swiatek (109) and Aryna Sabalenka (106) have recorded more Grand Slam wins in that period.
In the second round, Gauff will meet Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa or Australian tennis player Daria Kasatkina.
Article Tag: us open, daria kasatkina, cori gauff, paula badosa, zeynep sonmez
Published by Ligaolahraga.com at https://www.ligaolahraga.com/tenis/hasil-us-open-cori-gauff-paksa-zeynep-sonmez-angkat-kaki-dari-new-york