Coco Gauff’s impressive victory over Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round of the US Open confirmed her status as one of the tournament’s top contenders for the women’s singles crown.
The 19-year-old American won 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 after coming back from a break down in the deciding set.
Gauff, ranked #6, is competing for his first Grand Slam singles championship.
Wozniacki’s victory put an end to her remarkable comeback campaign, which spanned three and a half years.
Gauff’s victories in Washington and Cincinnati gave her confidence heading into the Grand Slam in her native city.
Her stunning comeback against a tenacious Wozniacki in the last set suggests she will maintain her strong play.
Gauff joked after the game that her dad can’t sit in the stands to watch her play anymore because he gets too scared.
She reported that he had been seen “doing laps around the stadium.”
Even though I couldn’t see him, I could feel his positive energy, and I hope he can hear me.
Gauff’s next opponent will be either Iga Swiatek, the defending champion, or Jelena Ostapenko, the former French Open champion.
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Despite being broken in her first service game, Gauff was able to recover and tie the score at 2-2, then go on to lead 5-3 and win the first set on her third set point after serving it out.
Gauff, agitated after facing and overcoming five break points in the second set, eventually dropped serve when trailing 5-3, allowing Wozniacki to force a third set and a fourth round match.
At the beginning of the third, the adolescent had another emotional breakdown and yelled at her coaching staff to stop talking to her.
With the help of the enthusiastic audience at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the home favorite was able to overcome an early disadvantage and break Wozniacki to regain control of the match.
Gauff is now on a nine-match winning streak after losing just once in her previous 16 matches since her unfortunate first-round elimination at Wimbledon in July.
The current world number six has only ever competed in one Grand Slam singles final, and she lost to Swiatek 6-1, 6-3, at the 2022 French Open.
If Ostapenko wins later on Sunday, Gauff might face the top seed in the quarterfinals, but Annabel Croft, the former British number one, believes the American has “put herself in the best possible position” to defeat Swiatek.
I believe this to be an excellent trial for her. She has to get in there and give it her all,” Croft said.
She had to play an opponent with equal skill, and her tennis and ball hitting were amazing as a result.
To paraphrase, “It’s as if Wozniacki never left.”
Wozniacki’s amazing run at a Grand Slam tournament comes to an end with this defeat. Her last appearance at a Grand Slam was the 2020 Australian Open.
Wozniacki took a three-year hiatus from tennis to conceive a family, and she was eight months along when she won the US Open in 2017.
Gauff said last month that it seemed like the Dane “never left” the WTA Tour after she made her comeback the month before.
“The level that she’s played at today is really amazing,” Gauff said.
“She has always been a role model for me.”
After the match, the former world number one and two-time US Open runner-up declared that she has now arrived where she belongs.
I have a lot of good things to carry with me into the future. Wozniacki felt she was “on the right track,” and she confirmed this.
I feel like I’m getting my bearings and my groove again. I can’t wait to take on bigger challenges and meet new people.
Tenth-seeded Karolina Muchova beat Wang Xinyu of China 6-3 5-7 6-1 on Sunday, setting up a quarterfinal meeting with Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.
After defeating Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-3, 6-3, world No. 30 Cirstea will make her first appearance in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament since the 2009 French Open.
