As Coco Gauff sat disconsolate on her chair, tears streaming down her face and with her service game seemingly in tatters, few observers would have thought the American’s 2025 US Open campaign had much life left in it.
That was towards the end of an opening set that looked to be heading Donna Vekic’s way in their second-round encounter on Arthur Ashe two nights ago.
A little under 48 hours later, and the 2023 champion is now relishing the prospect of a captivating fourth-round meeting with two-time former champion Naomi Osaka.
See the highlights below from the Vekic match:
Reaching the second week of this particular major is perhaps one of Gauff’s more defining achievements. Her forehand’s tendency to malfunction has been well-documented in the past, but her recent woes on serve have formed an unfamiliar and unsettling problem for the American.
It took a monumental mental effort for Gauff to ride those waves of negative emotion, and somehow scrape through to the most hard-fought of victories against the Croat.
“It’s been an emotional week,” was how Gauff herself put it.
“I think I needed those tough moments to be able to move forward.”
Her win over Vekic came two days after an equally draining triumph against Ajla Tomljanovic in the opening round.
Today, however, Gauff looked like a player transformed. In the less raucous atmosphere of the day session, the American’s service problems had largely abated – despite another four double-faults – and she had a fresher, lighter demeanour throughout a comfortable and impressive win over 28th seed Magdalena Frech.
“Everyone who is involved here, even janitors – having someone say they are rooting for you every five steps as I walk into this place means a lot to me,” Gauff continued.
“I was putting so much pressure on myself but I’m really out here just trying to enjoy it and not focus so much on results but the process. I think today showed I was really having fun out there.”
The world No 3 now has a golden chance to fully put to bed those early tournament issues with what would be a statement win over a resurgent Osaka on Monday. But safe passage into the last eight for the third time in her career will be dependent on a fully functioning serve against an opponent who represents a significant step up in class.
