Coco Gauff produced one of the most dramatic comebacks of her career to save two match points and defeat Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 in the US Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, setting up a semi-final showdown with new world No. 1 Elena Rybakina.
The fourth-seeded American was outplayed in a 26-minute opening set, losing it 2-6 as Andreeva controlled the tempo with aggressive baseline play. Gauff twice clawed her way back from a break down in a scrappy second set before finding herself staring at elimination at 6-7 down in the tie-break, with Andreeva holding two match points.
But the 22-year-old drew inspiration from compatriot Frances Tiafoe, who had staged a remarkable comeback of his own against Alex Michelsen the previous night. "At the end of the first set I was thinking about Frances and how he came back yesterday," Gauff said on court. "I was just trying to leave the court with no regrets."
Gauff saved both match points and seized control of the tie-break to force a decider. Roared on by a partisan Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, she dominated the third set, winning ten of the final twelve games as Andreeva's composure unraveled. The Russian, the reigning French Open champion, hurled a racquet in frustration after the first break of serve and committed 14 unforced errors in the deciding set compared to Gauff's two.
It was a gritty performance rather than a fluent one: Gauff served 12 double faults and accumulated 42 unforced errors, while both players finished with exactly the same tally. What separated them was net play — Gauff won 19 of 28 points at the forecourt, compared to Andreeva's six from 17 approaches.
The victory was Gauff's 11th in a row and her 46th of the season, taking her to a seventh Grand Slam semi-final. She holds a 6-0 career record against Andreeva and has never lost a Grand Slam match to a younger opponent.
Earlier in the day, second-seeded Rybakina recovered from losing the opening set — her first of the entire tournament — to beat Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 and secure the world No. 1 ranking for the first time. The 27-year-old Kazakh, who arrived in New York trailing Aryna Sabalenka by just 434 points, is the first player from Kazakhstan — man or woman — to top the WTA rankings.
For the first time since Wimbledon 2009, the women's semi-finals at a Grand Slam feature the top four seeds: Sabalenka, Rybakina, Pegula and Gauff. The semi-finals are scheduled for Thursday, with Gauff facing the newly crowned No. 1 in what promises to be a fascinating encounter.
Sources
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/c98670d418yo
- https://www.tennismajors.com/us-open-news/the-tiafoe-mode-gauff-saves-two-match-points-to-reach-her-first-us-open-semifinal-since-the-title-860638.html
