American Coco Gauff (world number 3), the public favourite and title holder, was defeated on Sunday 1st September in New York in the round of 16 of the US Open tennis tournament, her tournament, by her compatriot Emma Navarro (12th). -3, 4-6, 6-3.
Sixty unforced errors and nineteen double faults: the numbers are as dizzying as the stands of the imposing Arthur Ashe Stadium, the flagship of Flushing Meadows, aboard which Coco Gauff sank on Sunday.
Quick to make a mistake, Gauff offered the opening set break with a horrible service game and, despite a late second set rebellion, did so again in the final set, letting the match slip away with a final service game garnered with three double faults.
It is a serious blow and a real setback in the progress of the young American, a teenage prodigy who won a Grand Slam last year at the age of 19 in New York, and who has struggled to establish himself this season.
After two strong first rounds of Grand Slams (semi-finals at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros), Gauff has been struggling since she was eliminated from Wimbledon in July in the round of 16, by Emma Navarro. She then left the Paris Olympics in tears on the same stage, before losing in the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 in Toronto and in the second round of the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati (United States) in August.
After the tournament, Gauff will fall down the rankings to sixth in the world at best, going in the opposite direction to her 23-year-old compatriot Emma Navarro, who is aiming for the top 10 after having made a name for herself this season.
“It’s crazy to reach the quarter-finals after two first-round eliminations, in the city where I was born, it’s very special to win here”He said at the microphone at the Navarro Stadium that he had already equalled his best result in a Major (quarter-finals at Wimbledon in July).
Navarro will face former world number two Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals. She had earlier in the day beaten China’s Yafan Wang (80ᵉ) 6-1, 6-2 in her first US Open quarterfinal, a level she had not reached. She has not reached a Grand Slam since 2021. A journey made all the more significant considering that Badosa has been battling chronic back pain for months.
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“I was there last year but I had to withdraw. [avant le début du tournoi]I was very sad. And then I came back a year later and achieved my best result in a Grand Slam… A few months ago I was thinking about retiring. So doing this beautiful course here is a dream come true.”the 26-year-old player stressed.
Grigor Dimitrov and Taylor Fritz qualified for the men’s event
Among the men, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (9th) returns to the US Open quarter-finals for the first time since 2019 thanks to his success against Russian Andrey Rublev (6th) by 6-3, 7-6 (7/3). 1-6, 3-6, 6-3. Dimitrov calmly dominated the first two sets during which the demons of nervousness devoured Rublev, with screams and violent slaps.
The Russian – who? “never give up, you know how it is”Dimitrov points out that the match changed, but only at the start of the fifth set. “I just had to be patient”analyzed the 33-year-old Bulgarian who sees in his ” experience “ The key to the match.
In his 14th consecutive US Open, the oldest player still competing in New York will face either American Frances Tiafoe (20th) or Australian Alexei Popyrin (28th), who beat Novak Djokovic in the third round, to try to regain a semi-final spot among the top four at Flushing Meadows, as in 2019.
American Taylor Fritz (12th) ended the run of 2022 finalist Casper Ruud (8th) by beating him 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
