Vandeweghe kicks off US Open with first launch party

NEW YORK — CoCo Vandeweghe got the US Open party started on Friday night with her first official launch party. Hosted at Hakkasan, the night saw a slew of American players join in on the festivities including Shelby Rogers, Irina Falconi, Abigail Spears and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

The evening had guests enjoying drinks and Hakkasan's signature Cantonese cuisine in celebration of the start of the US Open.

"It's exciting," Vandeweghe told Baseline. "I've never had my name to something and it's always exciting to show off what you kind of designed for yourself."

Vandeweghe reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. She'll look to do even better at her home Slam.

Rogers will open against fellow American Kayla Day, while Falconi and Spears are in the doubles draw.

The 25-year-old Vandeweghe spent her first few days in New York at the Hamptons, taking some time to train away from all the madness.

"The Hamptons was more, I don't want to be in the city for three weeks. It's exhausting," she said. "Also, I have a lot of friends out here and the thing to do in New York is go to the Hamptons. We had a great time. There's lots of great players. I practiced with Svetlana [Kuznetsova] and Jelena Ostapenko. It was good practice for five days."

Vandeweghe, the No. 20 seed, will kick things off on court against Alison Riske.