By Shara Talia Taylor
No. 3 WTA ranked Coco Gauff, a fan favorite at the US Open, rose in the bracket over the first week of the tournament, but was stopped short of a victory in the quarterfinals by No. 24 WTA ranked Naomi Osaka on Labor Day.
Fans cheered loudly for 21-year old Gauff during her matches at Aruthur Ashe stadium throughout the holiday weekend. Monday, despite an improved serve, she was eliminated by 27-year old Osaka in two sets who was ready for a comeback victory.
“Today was disappointing, because I felt it was the best I served all tournament,” Gauff said. “Off the ground I think I just made way too many mistakes, way too many errors, which I feel like that’s the part of my game that I felt the most confident in coming into the tournament.”
Gauff said at the start of the weekend that she felt improvement with her serve after changing her coach. Thursday she faced Donna Vekić of Croatia and won in two sets 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Gauff had two aces and Vekić none. Gauff had eight double faults and Vekić 10. She felt her serve was better in the 2nd set of her match against Vekić.
“I definitely feel a difference in the motion and I think for me, when I do it correctly, I’m definitely not falling forward as much,” she said about her serve.
Gauff took on Magdalena Fręch of Poland in Round 3 on Saturday. She had one ace and four double faults and won in two sets 6-3, 6-1 and advanced to round 4.
Labor Day was a highly anticipated match between two accomplished players. Gauff‘s victories include two major titles including the U.S. Open in 2023 and the French Open, this past June, while Osaka won major titles at the U.S. Open in 2018 and 2020, and the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021.
Monday, Osaka won the first two games of the first set, but Gauff sprung into action during the third game with a strong serve and shut out win. Coco fell behind and seemed frustrated as the match progressed. Osaka seemed a bit more relaxed and kept her at the baseline. Gauff had three aces Monday and Osaka had three. Gauff had five double faults and Osaka had none. Her fastest serve was 117 mph and Osaka’s was 116 mph.
“Last time we played was in Beijing last year, and she got injured,” Gauff recalled playing with Osaka. “Today I thought she played well. She forced me to play how I did today. I think she’s improved a lot since coming back.”
Gauff had 33 unforced errors and Osaka had 12. Gauff had 12 forced errors and Osaka had 13.
“Going into this match, I just wanted to be grateful,” Osaka said about facing Gauff. “She’s one of the best players in the world. For me, honestly, I have the most fun when I play against the best players.”
By Tuesday the women playing singles remaining in the tournament playing for America were Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova. The crowd was also excited to see America’s Venus Williams in women’s doubles with her partner Leylah Fernandez of Canada. They defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova and Zhang Shuai on Monday in two sets (6-3,6-4) and moved ahead to the quarterfinals.
Recent Comments