Coin cashes in at US Open

One August day in New York, Julie Coin lost in straight sets to the world's 423rd-ranked player in the first round of qualifying for an unheralded tournament.

She never would have guessed she was a dozen kilometres and two weeks away from one of the most remarkable victories ever in women's tennis. On the main court at a Grand Slam, Coin beat the No1 player in the world. "Before the tournament, I was not imagining it the way it happened," a giddy Coin said after beating Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round of the US Open yesterday morning.

No, recently what she was imagining about her tennis future was maybe quitting at the end of the year.

The Frenchwoman wasn't making any headway toward breaking into the top 100 in the rankings, the measure of viability. She came into the Open ranked No188.

Coin (pronounced kwahn) toiled at a series of minor tournaments and she had never played in a Grand Slam before Tuesday, when she upset 40th-ranked Casey Dellacqua of Australia.

It took winning three qualifying matches to even reach that point.

Coin didn't get as far as resolving what she'd do for a living if she quit. Maybe she'd coach. It doesn't hurt to have a mathematics degree to fall back on.

"So I guess maybe now I'm going to think about, continuing to play," she said.

Coin's match was originally scheduled for Louis Armstrong Stadium, the Open's second-largest venue.

Coin practiced there, then learned they were moving to Arthur Ashe Stadium, capacity 23,733.

But after the initial shock and some early nerves, she looked right at home. More so than Ivanovic, the French Open champion.

"I thought she was maybe more nervous than I was," said the 25-year old.

Back in France, her parents were only able to watch part of the third set on TV – countrywoman Amelie Mauresmo's match had been shown instead.

Mauresmo, the No32 seed, will be Coin's third-round opponent today.