Coco Gauff, the defending US Open champion, had to dig deep to secure her place in the Round of 16. She faced a determined Elina Svitolina in a match that tested her resilience. Gauff, who had cruised through the first two rounds, faced her toughest challenge yet against the Ukrainian player.
Despite a shaky start that saw Svitolina dominate the first set, Gauff managed to regroup and elevate her game. The third seed acknowledged the challenge, stating, “I knew today was going to be a tough match. Every time I play Elina, she’s a fighter, and yeah, I knew I had to bring my best tennis.”
Svitolina, the 27th seed, took control in the first set, winning the final 11 points to secure a 6-3 victory. However, she was unable to maintain her aggressive momentum in the second set. Gauff broke Svitolina’s serve to take a 4-2 lead and ultimately won the set 6-3.
The third set saw Gauff come out firing, breaking Svitolina early to take a 2-0 lead. She later extended her lead to 4-1 before facing a potential upset as Svitolina fought back. But Gauff ultimately sealed the victory with a break at love to win the third set 6-3.
Gauff attributed her victory to a shift in strategy, focusing on being more aggressive and reducing unforced errors. “I was missing a lot of backhands in the net, so I was just trying to make less errors,” she explained. “And she was playing well, she was playing aggressive, she was hitting her spots, and I think the difference was just me being more aggressive, especially on the serve,” she added.
With her victory, Gauff remains on course to become the first woman to successfully defend her US Open title since Serena Williams’ historic three-peat from 2012-14. She will face either fellow American Emma Navarro or Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the fourth round.
