American teen superstar Coco Gauff has begun her ASB Classic title defence with a straightforward 6-4 6-2 win over compatriot Claire Liu.
The world No. 3 shook off some early rust before closing out ger first victory of 2024 and sending an early warning to her rivals in the star-studded Auckland field.
Gauff hit the ground running against her fellow American, earning a break in Liu's first service game, before closing out a 4-0 lead with an ace.
Liu stemmed the tide with a break of her own in the fourth game and as errors crept into Gauff's game - particularly with her serve - fought back into the contest.
But the reigning US Open champion soon found her feet to close out the first set with a second break of serve.
She carried that momentum with her into the second set, again claiming an early break, as she found some rhythm with her play and set a pace Liu couldn't match.
"Today was a good win for me, a pretty straight forward match," Gauff said after the match.
"I had a hiccup in the first, but I was able to break back to win the set... I felt I can definitely improve on it.
"It wasn't my best and it wasn't my worst. It played how I was supposed to play to win."
"I feel like I can improve but for the first match I'm happy with how I played."
Gauff advances to face qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova in the second round.
In earlier results on day two, NZ-born Lulu Sun ousted McCartney Kessler from America 6-4 6-3, before seventh seed Petra Martic overcame last year’s finalist Rebeka Masarova 3-6 6-3 6-3.
