Yes, Coco Gauff is a Grand Slam champion. Yes, she’s been ranked No. 1 in doubles and No. 2 in singles. Yes, she’s already a big star who transcends her sport and was a flagbearer alongside LeBron James at the Paris Olympics... and has a signature shoe... and is featured on Wheaties boxes and... and... and...

And yet, back in New York for Monday’s start of the US Open, which she won a year ago for her first major trophy — the first American teen to do so since Serena Williams in 1999 — Gauff still occasionally might sound like someone who deals with impostor syndrome.

Put simply: She does not quite understand what all the fuss is about.

“I just thought I was nobody,” Gauff said. “The whole flagbearer thing is still mind-blowing to me. Like, ‘Why am I up there?’”

When she was asked less than a month ago for her thoughts on the US Open and its importance to her still-nascent career, Gauff replied: “It hasn’t been on
my mind.”

Gauff said she was instead focused on the 2024 Games and soaking up that experience fully.

“She’s really embraced her star power, kind of,” said Jessica Pegula, a top-10 singles player and Gauff’s
frequent doubles partner, “but at the same time, she’s like a kid.”

The off-court aspects of Gauff’s Olympics debut were a huge success: meeting James; collecting pins; the college-style getting to know folks of various backgrounds; chatting at breakfast with athletes such as 100m dash gold medallist Noah Lyles.

The on-court results in France? Not as gratifying.

Gauff exited in the third round of singles after arguing with the chair umpire over a late call, then lost her second match in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Gauff is going through a slump as she goes back to the US Open. With her title defence — a term she says she doesn’t love — about to begin, Gauff is going through a rough stretch of results.

She was eliminated in the fourth round at Wimbledon while visibly upset at her coach, Brad Gilbert. After the struggles at the Olympics, she moved to the hard courts to prepare for New York and that did not go well: Gauff lost her second match in Toronto and her first in Cincinnati. Her ranking slid from No. 2 to No. 3.

Hardly the ideal lead-up she enjoyed in 2023 by winning 11 of 12 matches.

It will be fascinating to see how Gauff does when the lights come on in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“You just don’t know — you don’t consciously know — the expectations that creep into your cells in your body,” said Chris Evert, a six-time US Open champion.

“Everybody, from Day 1, has thought about Coco: She’s the next Serena Williams. She’s going to be the next one that dominates.’ That stays with you for a long time.”

There will be other story lines of interest, from top-ranked Jannik Sinner’s recent doping case to defending champion Novak Djokovic’s bid for a 25th Grand Slam title to Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka vying for a second major championship of 2024 to the US men trying to end a 21-year Slam drought.

Gauff could face the most scrutiny of anyone at the Flushing Meadows.

“I have a lot more aspirations obviously than just winning one (major),” she said. “I think the start of one just gives you a taste and gives you the belief that you can do it again.”