Shortly before noon Monday, the LED screens behind each baseline at Arthur Ashe Stadium began glowing bright yellow and fans rushing to their seats were greeted by a three-word sign of what awaited them: “Kids on the field.”
The message came as a group of children invaded the exhibition court on opening day of the U.S. Open. They were from the nearby Carefree Racquet Club in New York and their job was to “show us what the next generation looks like.”
It was a fitting appetizer: before long, the mini-nets had been taken down and the court was cleared for another young pair to take centre stage. On Monday, Ben Shelton, 21, and Coco Gauff, 20, were first and second at Arthur Ashe. Together they set the tone for this US Open.
As a child, Gauff let her imagination soar to lofty places. She dreamed of becoming president of the United States and joining the British royal family.
Last year, she met Barack and Michelle Obama on her way to being crowned queen of Queens. Shelton fell in the semifinals. But it was a run, in her first full season on the tour, that catapulted the 21-year-old to stardom.
On Monday, Ben Shelton and Coco Gauff lit the fuse of this year’s US Open in New York
The defending champion defeated world number 66 Varvara Gracheva in straight sets.
They have taken very different paths to this major event: Gauff had defeated Venus Williams at Wimbledon at 15, Shelton didn’t take the sport seriously until he was a teenager. But both are homegrown talents with the tools to electrify this fortnight and dominate American tennis for years to come.
They’re also friends. Gauff and Shelton recently participated in an escape room together; they’ll have a hard time staying out of the spotlight for a while.
On Monday, both did their job: Shelton, the next great hope of American men’s tennis, beat Dominic Thiem in straight sets before Gauff, the sport’s poster girl and reigning champion, overcame an early wobble to overcome world No. 66 Varvara Gracheva. They are the present and the future of American tennis.
“I’m treating this tournament like a victory lap,” Gauff said. “I’m going to win it again, whether it’s 2024 or not. I’m going to do it again.”
She looked set to take over when she became the first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams. She then reached her first semi-final at the Australian Open and also reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros.
But in recent weeks, things have come undone. There have been tears and tantrums and some terrible results. It all started at Wimbledon, when she fell early. And it came to a head at the Paris Olympics, when she cried and fought with the umpire.
Shelton beat Dominic Thiem in the Austrian’s last Grand Slam match
“I’m sorry it ended like this,” Shelton said, despite showing no mercy during the two-hour game.
The signs were pretty ominous here as Gauff dropped the first game at love and then gave up three break points in her opening service game. But she held serve, broke and then never looked back. Gauff won 12 of the last 13 games to book her place in the second round with a 6-2 6-0 victory in just over an hour.
Earlier, Shelton had won this fortnight’s match against a player whose flame is fading. It’s only been four years since Dominic Thiem won here to claim his first Grand Slam. This match was his last loss at the US Open and his last match at a major.
For a time, Thiem was the future, the player who was poised to break the dominance of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Among that lost generation (between the golden era of tennis and this new generation of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and co.), he seemed best placed to rack up multiple major wins. Instead, that 2020 win stands alone and now a wrist injury has condemned Thiem to early retirement.
And it all looked pretty cruel as Shelton hammered away at Thiem’s final defense. Not just because the American is just beginning his journey, but also because the power that has propelled Shelton to the top is based on the ferocious flick of his left wrist. Thiem’s resistance was finally broken after just under two hours on Arthur Ashe.
Gauff, still just 20, won her first Grand Slam title with victory at last year’s US Open.
Shelton, meanwhile, had a strong run to the semifinals at last year’s tournament.
The Austrian was treated to a framed collage of memories and a video montage. The New York crowd gave him a tearful send-off, and Shelton, who briefly ceded the spotlight, even apologized for his role in this final. “I’m sorry this is the end,” he said, having shown little compassion during the previous two hours.
Shelton is made for situations like this. The butterflies in his stomach, he said afterward, have already disappeared. He has the charisma, the game and the look. Dressed in a pink and blue jersey, Shelton dismantled Thiem with a combination of thunderous power and touch near the net.
The 21-year-old now advances into the second round, knowing that a potential rematch against Djokovic, who beat him last year, looms in the round of 16. This was a striking opening statement.
Taylor Fritz sits one spot ahead of Shelton in the rankings and leads the group of five Americans in the world’s top 20. But no American player has the superstar potential of the 21-year-old. Except Gauff. This won’t be the last time Arthur Ashe welcomes these guys onto the court.
