Coco Gauff and Paula Badosa emerged as the biggest winners in the first half on Day 1 of the US Open 2024. The two achieved a remarkable feat that no other top player could do on the day, clinching bagels in their first-round wins en route to dominating Round 1 victories.
Both Gauff and Badosa were able to win at least one set 6-0 in their respective matches. While Gauff outclassed French player Varvara Gracheva, Badosa was all over Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic.
Beginning with Gauff, the defending champion smashed as many as 10 aces in the match and broke her French opponent’s serve twice in the first set. She then went on to win the last nine games of the match consecutively to seal the proceedings, 6-2, 6-0.
After the match, the 20-year-old said that it helped her play ‘some of the best tennis in a while’ and she once again emphasized upon her new motto for the last major of the season.
Revealing how a TikTok comment motivated her, Gauff, in the post-match on-court interview said:
“Someone commented on my TikTok saying you’ve won in life, literally and figuratively, and there’s no point in piling pressure on yourself on a victory lap.”
“I’m just treating this tournament like that and if you defend something that means you won something,” she added.
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On the other hand, Badosa finished her match within 69 minutes as she didn’t allow her Swiss opponent to claim even a single game in the first set. Scoring a total of 4 aces, the Spaniard was able to convert 6 of the 8 break point opportunities presented to her.
Golubic, though, managed a brief comeback in the second set but it wasn’t enough. Badosa advanced to the second round after a resounding 6-0, 6-3 victory.
Gauff will be taking on Germany’s Tatjana Maria in the next round on Wednesday. While Badosa could have tougher challenge to deal with, in the form of American hopeful, Taylor Townsend in the Round of 64 on the same day.
Both Maria and Townsend also registered straight-set victories in their opening-round clashes and will now try to fight it out against these two tough forces of women’s tennis.
