Coco Gauff kicks off her 2024 campaign with victory over Claire Liu in Auckland

AUCKLAND: World No.3 Coco Gauff kicked off her 2024 campaign with a victory, defeating Claire Liu 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of ASB Classic in Auckland. Gauff broke serve five times while winning 72 per cent behind her own first serve and 53 per cent behind her second in a match that lasted almost an hour and a half.

In the second round, Gauff will play against Brenda Fruhvirtova. The Czech teenager defeated Anna Blinkova, ranked 48, 7-5, 6-4, to complete a trifecta of historic victories in the opening round. This was Fruhvirtova's first-ever Top 100, Top 50, and WTA Tour main-draw victory.

Gauff's 82-minute match served as the ideal prelude to her debut season as the current major champion. For many players, that can be a significant weight as they start their follow-up year. If achieving a Grand Slam had been Gauff's primary career objective, then perhaps. Gauff, though, saw New York only as a stopgap.

"Ever since I was a kid I always had big goals for my career. Winning a Slam gave me reassurance that I could reach those goals. I don't think my motivation has stopped in any way. I probably feel even more motivated because the feeling I had at match point was a crazy feeling," Gauff was quoted as saying by WTA. Brad Gilbert will be accompanying Gauff at the Australian Open after they parted ways with coach Pere Riba following the China Open last year. Gauff sounded like a teenager eager for the first day of school when asked what she's most looking forward to this year.

"Honestly, the thing I was looking most towards was seeing my friends on tour. I saw Jess in the off-season. I saw Chris [Eubanks] a bit since he came to Florida to practice. I haven't seen Ben [Shelton] since the US Open. I'm excited. We're going to do an escape room," she said. "Obviously the tennis part is exciting too. My first Slam as a Slam champion is going to be really exciting," she added.

Though Gauff had a difficult preseason in Florida, she feels amazingly young. She attributes the extra spring in her step to her choice to compete in just two tournaments following the US Open in 2017. "Pre-seasons are unique because you're really not playing any girls until the end. So it's tough to gauge your performance when you're playing with a bunch of guys. But for the most part, being a Grand Slam champion didn't change the way that I trained. I'm still training just as hard as when I was chasing my first Grand Slam. Now I'm chasing my second one," Gauff said.