Gauff, Zheng win first-round Open matches

NEW YORK — Coco Gauff had an easy start to her U.S. Open title defense, rolling to a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Varvara Gracheva on Monday.

Gauff needed just over an hour, looking more like the player who won her first major title last year at age 19 than the one who had dropped her last two matches before coming to New York. But Gauff said she had practiced well since those losses in Toronto and Cincinnati, and wasn’t surprised that it showed in her play.

“So honestly, I was just telling myself that I’m ready,” Gauff said.

“I feel like I’m finding my game, whereas the other two tournaments that I played at, even the practice sessions I was doing, I just felt off.”