A Look Back at Day 3 of the US Open, and a Tense First Rounder for Gauff

It was only two days ago where we mentioned that in the early rounds of major tournaments, matches featuring lower-ranked, lesser-known players are often the most compelling over matches with the big names. So far, that has definitely been the case, with most of the upper-ranked individuals winning in straight sets. But... there is definitely a lot to be said for watching those at the top of the sport.

Take for example Alex de Minaur who, while never winning a Slam, has been a steady presence at the upper regions of men’s tennis, and is seeded 8th here. His first-round match vs fellow Aussie Christopher O'Connell was played on the Grandstand court, and began at about 6pm, a time when people attending the day session were heading out, and those for the night session were heading in. As such, the stands for Grandstand court were at most half full, there were no lines or wait to get in, no signs with "Stadium at Capacity," and ushers can be a lot easier going when they don’t need to be doing crowd control. The takeaway here: If you can watch any of the top dozen players in the world on any of the courts other than Ashe or Armstrong, it is probably worth checking out. And being honest, players like Sinner, Alcaraz, Gauff or Sabalenka aren’t going to be playing anywhere but the two top show courts any time soon. Getting to see #8 seed de Minaur on the more intimate confines of the Grandstand ain’t too shabby.

True to what we have touched upon, the match was never much in doubt with de Minaur coming away with a relatively easy 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 over his 81st ranked opponent. While there was not much tension in the overall match, one could see what has gotten de Minaur into the top 10, and what will likely keep him there for the foreseeable future. He does not have a "big" game; rarely does de Minaur go for a killer forehand, and he won’t be ace-ing anyone off the court. What he does have is great court coverage along with extremely solid execution of every shot in the game plus — and this is the big plus — he makes relatively few of the unforced errors which often plague the games of bigger hitters.

Above: Alex de Minaur displays top-10 form on Grandstand to move into Round 2. Photo credit: pechterphotos.com.

Court 17 saw 23-year-old American Hailey Baptiste (from the Washington D.C. area) get her first win ever in the main draw at the US Open, with a 7-5, 6-3 win over #76 ranked Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic. Baptiste has moved her way up in the rankings into the top 50, and getting that first win in one’s home-country event is a very happy event, and often a big relief for younger talent.

Above: American Hailey Baptiste centers her game in getting her first win at the US Open where she moved into the second round. Photo credit: pechterphotos.com.

While it was great to see a player like de Minaur, for the second time in three days attention was drawn to Court 12 by raucous cheering occurring every other minute. The cause: one of those 5-setter affairs that really get viewers invested in the match. The participants: #96 Tristan Schoolkate of Australia taking on #46 Italian Lorenzo Sonego, a recognizable name for many; he is a 30-year-old veteran of the tour ranked between #20 – #50 for most of his career. This year it appears that a top reason for a match becoming an exhilarating spectacle is due in no small part to the Sinner effect.

Over the last two years, the emergence of Jannik Sinner as the #1 player in the world has apparently brought about a much bigger interest in tennis among people with connection to Italy or those who just happen to love that country. In any event, those people are definitely turning out for this event. While it might not be a one-man-saves-the-world story, it is nonetheless impressive seeing how one man can lift a country. Certainly, some champions tend to bring out greater impact than others, and Sinner seems to be at the highest end of that spectrum. He is the root of a passion for tennis which approaches a level last seen in Great Britain with Andy Murray’s conquering of Wimbledon over a decade ago.

So in one corner there is the Italian brigade, and in the other there is the "aussie, aussie, aussie, oi, oi, oi!" crowd. Throw in a contest that builds from an up-and-down affair into a nail biter, and the result is the aforementioned exhilarating spectacle. Schoolkate took the first two sets and then appeared to hit a wall, with Sonego decisively winning the third and fourth sets, and going up a break early in the fifth. Of course, no thriller would be complete without a good ending, and this one finished with a fifth-set tie-breaker. The final had Schoolkate emerging victorious, 6-3, 7-6 (10-8), 1-6, 1-6, 7-6 (10-6), and brought about deafening repetition of the Aussie chant.

Above: Though making the contest an exhilarating spectacle, Lorenzo Sonego could not make it into the second round. Photo credit: pechterphotos.com.

This brings us to the feature match of the day: Coco Gauff vs Ajla Tomljanovic, another Australian, 32 years old and currently ranked #79. On paper, this should be another first-round lopsided match for Gauff, but as we are reminded every now and again, matches are not played on paper. Additionally, though seeded third here, since winning the French Open six weeks ago, Gauff has had a well-publicized difficult stretch which has included a change of coaches and a first-round loss at Wimbledon. To top that off, in both pre-match and post-match interviews, Gauff has appeared somewhat resigned to not getting great results here. Acknowledging her recent performances, she expressed hope that things would right themselves at the Open, but made remarks that indicated she’d be content with her year should she not do well here. It’s the kind of thing better said when looking back on a tournament, not going into it.

Above: When all else fails, court coverage played a major role in getting Gauff past the first round. Photo credit: pechterphotos.com.

So there was the definite possibility going in that Gauff would struggle in her opening round match, and struggle she did. Recent problems with her serve and high number of unforced errors were clearly present, and it was only due to her underlying talent that she managed to get by. In particular, her court coverage is the best in the game, and that is something one does not lose even when other parts of your game are failing. Gauff emerged with a tense 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 7-5. In post-match interviews, while happy to get the win, Gauff still made remarks that do not bode well for her fate here. At present and with justification, she is unsure of herself and lacking confidence in her game. Swagger plays a huge role in determining how far a player will go in a Slam, and it will be tough for Gauff to develop such an attitude in the next few days.

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Written by Florida Tennis contributor Todd Pechter. Photo credits: pechterphotos.com.