New York Post, Tuesday, August 27, 2019nypost.com43By MARC BERMANRoger Federer perhaps
thought he was playing Na-
dal — not Nagal — in the
U.S. Open’s first round.
That’s how tight Federer
looked as he faced the qual-
ifier from India, 190th-
ranked Summit Nagal, mak-
ing his Grand Slam debut.
Somehow, the Swiss Mae-
stro lost the first set 6-4.
On set point, he knocked a
forehand long for his 19th
unforced error. So much for
the mismatch.
But rather than losing in
the biggest upset in U.S.
Open history, the third-
seeded Federer rallied with
ease to post a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
victory at Arthur Ashe Sta-
dium in Monday night’s sec-
ond match. He needed 2 ¹/₂
hours to pull it off with the
match ending just before
midnight.
“Maybe it’s not a bad
thing to go through a match
like this,’’ Federer said.
The unshaven Federer
moved to 19-0 in first-
round Open matches.
“I played like my beard
today — rusty,’’ Federer
said. “I’m going to shave it
off for the next match.
“I just tried to forget it,
stay tough. It was a tough
first set for me. Credit to
him to play a solid first and
was missing a lot of balls
and hopefully serve better.
It came back just in time.”
Nagal, 22, had reached his
first main draw of a Grand
Slam as he won three quali-
fying matches, even com-
ing from a set and a break
down to win his finale. The
scrappy baseliner was gen-
uinely delighted when he
was placed next to
Federer’s line in the draw.
“I want to play him,’’ Na-
gal told the ATP website
before the match. “It
doesn’t matter. It’s not
about winning or losing all
the time. It’s just the expe-
rience. It’s playing some-
one who has 20 Grand
Slams.”
Federer was indeed off-
kilter after lack of match
action since Wimbledon’s
classic loss in the finals
against Novak Djokovic.
Federer didn’t play in Can-
ada and lost in the first
round in Cincinnati.By MARC BERMANCoach Patrick Mouratoglou’s main focus
is on Serena Williams. But he can’t help but
keep tabs on Coco Gauff.
Mouratoglou, met Gauff when she was 10
years old. The family decided to have Gauff,
from Delray Beach, Fla., train intermittently
at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in the
south of France, near Nice.
That the Gauff camp was interested in fly-
ing Coco to France to hone her craft speaks
volumes to Mouratoglou’s stature. The
coach, who also does analyst work for
ESPN, set up a game plan for Coco that has
proved successful.
Coming off her run to the fourth round at
Wimbledon, upsetting Venus Williams along
the way, Gauff will make her Open debut
Tuesday against Anastasia Potapova.
The American is ranked 139th and re-
ceived a controversial wild card into the
main draw here from the USTA despite it
exceeding her limit of three wild cards set
for 15-year-olds.
“I saw a future champion,’’ Mouratogloutold The Post in a players’ lounge interview
Sunday. “Everything I believed was neces-
sary to become a champion, I can see at that
age already. If I point out the most important
things, saw athleticism, the drive, self-confi-
dence — but not cocky — just a be-
lief in herself. Hard worker. Su-
per competitor. You see her in
practice, then she goes into
the match, it’s a different level.
She knows how to win.”
With a full-time commit-
ment to Serena, Mouratoglou
cannot be Gauff’s coach. Per-
haps after Serena retires.
The current job be-
longs to Coco’s father,
Corey. Mouratoglou ar-
ranged for a secondary
coach in fellow French-
man Jean-Christophe
Faurel, from his acad-
emy. Coco’s mother,
Candi, is a former Flor-
ida State hurdler and
got her daughter intotennis in the second grade.
“We provided a good environment,’’ Mou-
ratoglou said. “She has a great family who have
a big role. She looks up to her father the most.
They had other needs. They needed a fitness
plan, hitting partners and establishing a long-
term plan.”
And now Gauff is fulfilling her potential —
earlier than expected, even though she be-
came the youngest U.S. Open junior finalist
in 2017 at age 13. At Wimbledon, she be-
came the youngest qualifier in history and
youngest player to make the fourth
round since Jennifer Capriati in 1991.
“Yes and no,’’ Mouratoglou said
when asked if he was surprised.
“Yes, you can’t expect something
like that at that age. On the other
hand, she made history many
times with her young age.’’
“She continues to deal well
with pressure and that’s some-
thing very rare. It’s one more
quality you can’t see when she’s
10 but you started to see it at
12, 13.”Coach spotted ‘future champion’ in Coco
B
ILLIE Jean King, at the start
of the festivities at Arthur
Ashe Stadium Monday
evening, noted to the crowd it
was “Women’s Equality Day.”
King, one of Serena Williams’
most ardent supporters one
year ago after “Serena versus
The Umpire,” added, “But we
have so much more to do until
there is truly equality for all.’’
One year ago, battling for
women’s rights became part of
the narrative after Williams’
meltdown against umpire Car-
los Ramos, who flagged the
Compton, Calif., legend with
three straight code violations.
On Monday’s opening night, a
woman, Marija Cicak, was in the
umpire’s chair. There were no
blowups, no illegal coaching
from Patrick Mouratoglou, no
code violations and not much
drama.
The USTA has barred Ramos
from umpiring a Serena match
during this U.S. Open. Asked
about the ruling Monday night,
Serena quipped, “Yeah, I don’t
know who that is.’’
Untested, Williams remained
rather quiet Monday, letting her
racket do the talking as she
routed what is left of Maria
Sharapova in a 59-minute 6-1, 6-1
first-round thumping.
If this match contained anyhistory, it could serve as
Sharapova’s last one at the
Open, though sources believe
the five-time Grand Slam cham-
pion will play another year as
her Nike contract runs its
course.
Unlike Andrew Luck,
Sharapova, now out of the top
100 with this first-round loss,
wants to battle on despite con-
stant shoulder
pain. She got
hammered
Monday, but
lost with grace.
Her opponent,
for all her 23
Grand Slam vic-
tories, does not
always do so.
“You can
write me off,’’ Sharapova said.
“There are many people that
can write me off, especially after
going down 6-1, 6-1 in the first
round of the Open. As long as
it’s not the person that’s inside
of you, you’ll be OK. You can
write me off, but that’s not me.’’
No, Williams and Sharapova
weren’t equal Monday — except
for the first 10 minutes.
Sharapova held her serve to
square the bout at 1-1 and let out
a squeal of joy.
At least Sharapova evened
Serena in the fashion war, wear-ing a charcoal tennis dress to
Serena’s trademark one-piece
black suit.
The sellout crowd of 23,771
cheered Sharapova, but gave
Williams a more resounding
ovation when she emerged on
Ashe for the first time since
September’s debacle.
Williams noticed.
“They were so amazing,” she
said. “I could
hear them walk-
ing down the
hallway. It was
such a good
feeling.’’
In 24 minutes,
Williams
wrapped up the
first set, paint-
ing the lines
with perfect power and made
just three unforced errors. She
destroyed Sharapova’s second
serve. She essentially has
owned Sharapova for years,
running her record to 20-2.
If Williams owned her any
more, she’d be CEO of Sugar-
pova — her candy company.
“I’ve had a lot of tough
matches here, a lot of tough
losses, but coming out tonight
makes it all worthwhile,’’ Wil-
liams said in her on-court inter-
view.
The toughest came againstNaomi Osaka in last year’s final
and sent the sports world into a
dizzying debate on whether
coaching should be allowed and
whether umpires treat female
players’ outbursts differently
than they do men’s.
Serena was so confused after
the mess, she sought a sports
psychologist as she continues
the quest to tie Margaret Court’s
record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
Dr. Hillary Cauthen, board
member of the Association for
Applied Sports Psychology, has
worked with professional ten-
nis players and college players.
She feels there’s plenty of evi-
dence about a bias against
women.
“She was expressing her emo-
tions,’ Dr. Cauthen told The
Post when reviewing last year’s
fiasco. “It’s a difficult place as a
high-level athlete in high com-
petition to manage emotions. As
a female athlete, society looks at
it differently and labels the emo-
tions different. There’s truth to
that. It’s a hard path. How can
we change society’s perspective
of how man and woman express
their emotions?’’
Serena’s strokes and emotions
were under control Monday
with six matches to go before
she can finally make history.
[email protected]Free of drama, Serena
Open’s tourney with rout
Marc
Berman
Marc
Federer
overcomes
slow start
vs. qualifier