Coco Gauff knew defending the US Open title can be robust -- however she'll be again

NEW YORK — Coco Gauff knew changing into a back-to-back champion on the US Open can be onerous.

She was probably conscious that no girl had repeated on the match since Serena Williams gained her third straight a decade in the past. And Gauff knew she hadn’t arrived on the occasion with as a lot momentum as she had in 2023.

So after her first-round win Monday, Gauff sounded as if she had been nearly getting ready herself for the chance that she would not do it — and making an attempt to take a few of the stress off her shoulders.

“Someone commented on my TikTok they usually had been like, ‘You’ve got gained in life, actually and figuratively, and there is not any level in piling stress on your self on a victory lap,'” Gauff mentioned. “I am simply treating this match like that. In the event you defend one thing, meaning you gained one thing. In the event you did it, meaning you are able to do it once more.

“So whether or not I do it once more this 12 months or not, I’m going to do it once more, whether or not it is 2024 or not — I’ll do it once more.”

On Sunday, taking part in in opposition to Emma Navarro in entrance of a capability crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Gauff had her hopes of a repeat title dashed within the fourth spherical. The 20-year-old dropped the opening set, and whereas she managed to power a decider, she merely could not overcome her poor serving. She had 19 double faults and wasn’t in a position to pull off one other signature comeback. After two hours and 12 minutes, she headed for the exits after a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 loss.

“Mentally I gave it, and emotionally, I gave it my all,” Gauff mentioned after the match with audible disappointment in her voice. “After all, there have been issues execution-wise … clearly I want I may serve higher. I feel if I might have performed that, it will have been a special story for me within the match. … So emotionally I’ve no regrets, however clearly I want I may execute issues higher.”

Gauff is certainly not the one favourite to face an early defeat on the US Open this 12 months. Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion and the 2022 victor in New York, was shocked in straight units within the second spherical. Novak Djokovic, the defending males’s champion, was eradicated the next evening within the spherical of 32. Each cited an absence of power after the extreme and grueling summer time schedule, which included a number of floor adjustments and the Olympic Video games.

“I spent quite a lot of power successful the gold, and I did arrive to New York simply not feeling recent mentally and bodily,” Djokovic mentioned. “However as a result of it is [the] US Open, you already know, I gave it a shot and I attempted my finest. I imply, I did not have any bodily points. I simply felt out of gasoline, and you might see that with the way in which I performed.”

Gauff, who was given the honour of carrying the American flag throughout the opening ceremony in Paris alongside LeBron James, performed in singles, doubles and combined doubles on the Video games. Whereas actually an expertise to recollect, it made for a dramatically totally different lead-in on the onerous court docket previous to the US Open than she had in 2023.

Final season, Gauff was red-hot all through the summer time and gained the titles in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati. This 12 months, she arrived on the Canadian Open simply days after being bounced within the Olympics, went 1-2 in her two occasions, and misplaced within the opening spherical of her protection mission at Cincinnati.

However when requested if she felt psychological or bodily fatigue following the extreme calls for of the summer time, she did not need to blame Sunday’s consequence on that.

“It is a robust query as a result of I really feel like I felt prepared, and I felt bodily and mentally prepared, however for certain I feel in Toronto and Cincy, it was just a little bit mentally draining, these tournaments having to modify surfaces,” Gauff mentioned. “It is robust whenever you’re looking for your recreation. You are simply used to perhaps a sure kind of 12 months.

“However coming into this [tournament], I did not really feel any exhaustion. I used to be truly actually excited to play. Yeah, I did not really feel any kind of issues. I used to be simply able to go on court docket. Even at the moment I felt able to go on court docket. I used to be excited.”

Gauff had beforehand mentioned the short departure in Cincinnati enabled her to have some good apply periods forward of the match, and he or she was dominant in her first-round win over Varvara Gracheva, permitting her opponent to win simply two video games within the match. However Gauff struggled early together with her serve in her second-round match in opposition to Tatjana Maria within the scorching warmth Wednesday evening. Although she finally gained the match, she had seven double faults within the first set — and it was an indication of what was to return.

Gauff dropped the final 11 factors of the opening set in opposition to former world No. 3 Elina Svitolina within the third spherical earlier than turning issues round. She raised her stage — bettering her serve and the remainder of her recreation — within the second and third units and got here away with the victory. She frolicked on the apply courts engaged on her serve following her second- and third-round matches.

However she merely could not discover a technique to win Sunday. Navarro had upset Gauff within the fourth spherical at Wimbledon 6-3, 6-3 in July, and proved that consequence was no fluke.

Gauff, who had her finest main results of the 12 months with a semifinal look on the Australian Open, mentioned she wasn’t certain what the remainder of her season would seem like, however was wanting ahead to having time for a coaching block, her first since earlier than the clay season started. She mentioned she would think about working with a mechanics coach and getting different opinions in hopes of resolving her serving woes going ahead.

“It is also simply sort of a psychological hurdle that I’ve to recover from,” she mentioned. “However, yeah, I positively need to have a look at different issues as a result of I do not need to lose matches like this anymore.”

So now, as an alternative of Gauff, it is Navarro who’s the lone remaining American consultant within the backside half of the draw. (Jessica Pegula, who’s on the opposite aspect of the draw, is the one different American girl nonetheless in rivalry and performs her fourth-round match in opposition to Diana Shnaider on Monday.)

It has been a breakthrough season for the 23-year-old Navarro, who began the 12 months at No. 38 and is now projected to crack the highest 10 for the primary time after Sunday’s win. She has had career-best appearances in any respect 4 Slams this 12 months, together with a fourth-round run on the French Open and her maiden main quarterfinal at Wimbledon earlier this summer time.

The 2021 NCAA singles champion at Virginia, Navarro gained her first WTA title at Hobart in January and was part of her first Olympic workforce in Paris. Throughout her rise, she has impressed many in tennis, together with Williams, the 23-time main champion, who was in attendance for Sunday’s match.

play

Serena Williams praises Coco Gauff’s psychological fortitude

Serena Williams is interviewed from the stands on the US Open and breaks down the strengths of Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro.

“I like the variability in Emma’s recreation,” Williams mentioned throughout the tv broadcast. “I by no means was a spread participant, so every time I see somebody like her that slices the ball but additionally has quite a lot of spin on her forehand, I actually admire that as a result of it is one thing I by no means actually did. She will be able to are available in, she has nice palms, and he or she does the whole lot so properly. She sees the court docket, she has an enormous tennis IQ, and I like that.”

Navarro will subsequent tackle a resurgent Paula Badosa on Tuesday as each look to succeed in the primary main semifinal of their careers. Badosa, who was sidelined for a lot of the 2023 season with a again harm, defeated Navarro of their solely earlier assembly, however knew doing so once more can be a problem.

“She’s very, very gifted,” Badosa mentioned Sunday. “We had a really large battle in Rome additionally [in May]. It was clay. It is totally different. However she’s taking part in very properly. She’s been doing an excellent summer time, additionally, taking part in good matches. Additionally, I am anticipating a troublesome one there. Perhaps I must be extra aggressive than her, and let’s have a look at the way it goes Tuesday.”

Navarro later known as Badosa a “nice participant” and praised her serving and groundstrokes. She informed reporters she hoped her expertise at Ashe on Sunday would assist her when the stakes had been even larger. Requested throughout her information convention about when she started to consider she had an opportunity to win a Slam, Navarro mentioned she nonetheless could not absolutely consider she was speaking about that chance now and known as it “fairly loopy.”

However on the court docket, simply moments after the match, Navarro sounded extra sure about another person’s possibilities to win the US Open title sooner or later: Gauff.

In response to a query about reaching the quarterfinals, Navarro first echoed Gauff’s sentiments about her future on the match.

“Coco’s a tremendous participant and I’ve a ton of respect for her,” Navarro mentioned on court docket after the match. “I do know she’s going to return again right here and win this factor once more one 12 months.”