NEW YORK — Defending champion Coco Gauff, Paula Badosa and Zheng Qinwen secured a spot in the last 16 at the US Open with a confidence-boosting victories as Defending champion Novak Djokovic was shocked.
Gauff passed a big test of her credentials for winning a second successive US Open after beating Elina Svitolina.
The 20-year-old American has set her sights on becoming the first woman to defend her Flushing Meadows title since Serena Williams in 2014 but her form coming into the tournament was not great.
She got through her first two rounds without excelling and was in trouble when 27th seed Svitolina took the opening set.
But Gauff showcased her fighting spirit to produce a 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory on Arthur Ashe. “She’s a fighter,” Gauff said according to AP. “I knew I had to play my best.”
“I tried to be more aggressive on my forehand side,” Gauff said, “and tried to make less errors on the backhand.”
But Svitolina was unable to maintain her aggressive start and suddenly began playing more defensively while Gauff managed to wake up the rather subdued crowd when she broke for a 4-2 lead before going on to serve out the second set.
Gauff, who arrived at US Open eager to bounce back from a run of disappointing results, saved her best tennis for the decider, consolidating a break to go ahead 2-0 and establishing a 4-1 double break cushion.
With a chance to serve out the match, Gauff threw Svitolina a lifeline as she squandered a 40-love lead but the American struck back the next game with a break at love to close out the match.
Badosa saved a match point on the way to a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10/8) victory over Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who had surprised Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the second round.
“After what I’ve been through the last year, for me it’s very special to already be on this level,” said Badosa according to AFP.
“The low point for me was at the middle of the season,” she said.
“At the beginning of the season I was OK, but after all seeing that I was struggling also with my back, it wasn’t responding well. My results weren’t what I was expecting in that moment. So it was really bad.
“There was moments that I didn’t know what to do. I was thinking maybe I should quit because if I’m not in the highest level, I don’t want to play this sport.”
Along the way, she said, she’s learned to appreciate the sport more, at least part of the time.
“It’s a mix,” she said. “There’s some moments I can appreciate it a bit more. Sometimes I’m on the court and I just look up. I’m, like, ‘Whoa, this is beautiful.’
“(But) at the end of the day I’m so competitive. I just want to win, win, win, win and be in the last round.”
China’s Zheng Qinwen shook off slow starts in the opening two rounds of the US Open and took down unseeded German Jule Niemeier 6-2 6-1 at the US Open.
The Olympic gold medalist and 7th seed fired off eight aces and seized five break points on the Grandstand hard court in her first straight-sets victory of the year’s final major.
“Finally, it’s the first match I won in two sets … It’s not (been) easy for me to play after Olympic Games,” said Zheng according to Reuters.
“She played an unbelievable match in Paris. She was too good that match. I had couple of chances but didn’t manage to pull them off,” the 24th seed told reporters.
“But it’s a new match. We’re a couple of weeks later. It’s a different surface, thankfully for me.”
Defending champion Novak Djokovic followed Carlos Alcaraz in crashing out of the US Open after Australian Alexei Popyrin pulled off the second major shock in two nights.
Alcaraz was the subject of one of the tournament’s biggest upsets when he was dumped out by world number 76 Botic van De Zandschulp.
And 24 hours later, defending champion Djokovic joined him in leaving New York early after the 28th seed won 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4.
Frances Tiafoe thrived in the high-pressure environment of Arthur Ashe Stadium, defeating Ben Shelton in a grueling five-set rematch. The victory advanced Tiafoe to the fourth round for the fifth consecutive year, highlighting his improved game and focus under coach David Witt.
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