Coco Gauff continued in her pursuit of recording back-to-back U.S. Open titles on Friday by rallying to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Elina Svitolina in their third-round match in New York.
The third-seeded Gauff overcame a mistake-filled first set by saving five of seven break points against the 27th-seeded Svitolina of the Ukraine. The highlight of the match came in the third set when Gauff outlasted Svitolina during a fierce 37-stroke exchange that ended when the latter’s backhand sailed wide.
“She’s a fighter,” the 20-year-old Gauff said of Svitolina, a three-time major semifinalist. “I knew I had to play my best.”
Gauff did not do that in the early going, committing 16 unforced errors in the first set.
She quickly settled down after hearing some comforting words.
“My team was kind of like telling me that (the fans) were on the edge of their seats,” Gauff explained. “So I said, ‘OK, I need to erupt so you guys can erupt.'”
Gauff hopes to give the fans a thrill on Sunday when she vies for a spot in the quarterfinals against 13th-seeded Emma Navarro, who posted a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over 19th-seeded Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
Also on Friday, seventh-seeded Qinwen Zheng breezed to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Jule Niemeier of Germany in 1 hour and 21 minutes.
Zheng exacted a bit of revenge versus Niemeier, who eliminated her in this tournament in 2022.
“I remember that match so clear,” Zheng said. “I lost that match at midnight — it was a tough match and really painful. I remember I sat one hour in (the U.S. Open site) at, I don’t know, 3 o’clock, there crying by myself alone.
“So today when I play against her, since the beginning I’m really focused, because I don’t want that feeling to happen again to me. I’m glad I’m the winner today so I don’t have to cry!”
While Zheng cruised on Friday, 26th-seeded Paula Badosa of Spain needed to save a match point while trailing 5-4 in the third set to notch a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8) victory over Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania.
No. 24 Donna Vekic of Croatia notched a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Peyton Stearns.
Twentieth-seeded Victoria Azarenka was not as fortunate. Unseeded Yafan Wang of China recorded a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win over the Belarus native.
In evening action, No. 33 Elise Mertens came from behind to defeat No. 14 Madison Keys 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4. Each of the last two sets featured just one service break. Keys finished with far more winners than Mertens, 39-23, but the American was done in by committing 69 errors to the Belgian’s 43.
Wrapping up the night, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus started slowly but advanced past No. 29 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Next up for Sabalenka is a fourth-round match against Mertens.
–Field Level Media
