Gauff double faulted often and had her serve broken seven times by Anastasija Sevastova.
Coco Gauff, the American 16-year-old who generated buzz and roars by winning two rounds at last year’s United States Open, was defeated in the first round on Monday 6-3,5-7,6-4 amid the silence by Anastasija Sevastova. Gauff was back in Louis Armstrong Stadium, the same show court where she defeated Anastasia Potapova and Timea Babos in 2019 before losing in the third round to No.1 Naomi Osaka. But this year, with no fans allowed at the U. S. Open, Armstrong Stadium was all but empty as Gauff struggled to recapture the same form. She double faulted 13 times and had her serve broken seven times against Sevastova, the No.31 seed from Latvia. Though she avoided double faults in the final game of the third set, she was unable to avoid a series of forehand errors. Sevastova is a crafty veteran who is adept at mixing spins and tactics and has an often-devastating backhand drop shot.
