Coco Gauff, the 16-year-old U.S. tennis sensation, was eliminated in the U.S. Open first round by No. 31 seed Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia on the opening day of play in a nearly empty Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Sevastova beat the 51st-ranked Gauff 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 on the fourth match point, without any ticketed spectators due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gauff, who would have been an overwhelming crowd favorite, committed 40 unforced errors and 13 double faults.
She reached the third round of the 2019 U.S. Open, sandwiched between fourth-round runs at Wimbledon and the 2020 Australian Open, the most recent Grand Slam tournaments before the coronavirus pandemic.