Coco Gauff Kicked Off US Open Play With Exciting Mixed Doubles Spectacle

The young star teamed up with Ben Shelton for the inaugural Mixed Madness competition on Tuesday.

Coco Gauff / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

On Monday, the defending US Open champion, Coco Gauff, will take to the court at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the first round the final major this season. The 20-year-old will be looking to secure a second consecutive title at the New York Grand Slam and her second career major title.

It’s a lot of pressure for the young athlete. But she’s proven herself up to the challenge. With the 2023 US Open win, she became the youngest American to take home the title since Serena Williams in 1999. Last year, she marched to victory with the determination and poise of a much older player, and she will hope to repeat the feat on home turf again come Sept. 7.

In the meantime, she’s staying loose. Gauff has every intention of enjoying her time in New York. To that end, she kicked off US Open play with the inaugural Mixed Madness competition on Aug. 20. Alongside fellow American Ben Shelton, she took on a handful of mixed doubles teams in the quest for a $250,000 prize.

Though the pair didn’t manage to come out on top, they had fun all the same (the following Instagram post is proof of that). Plus, it gave them a chance to get their feet under them on the green and blue hard courts characteristic of the US Open.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Coco Gauff (@cocogauff)

Both players will kick off their bids for the title at 11 a.m. EST on Monday, Aug. 26.