US Open: Coco Gauff reaches the fourth round after rallying to beat Elise Mertens and keep her hopes of a first Grand Slam alive… as Jimmy Butler and Justin and Hailey Bieber look on
- Gauff made a comeback after losing the first set of the match against Mertens
- In the fourth round of the Open she will now face 33-year-old Caroline Wozniacki
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Coco Gauff produced a great comeback to reach the fourth round of the US Open and keep her hopes of winning her first Grand Slam title alive.
Their shots missed. She struggled to hold serve. She dropped a sentence. Meanwhile, Gauff spoke with her coaches Brad Gilbert and Pere Riba. Talk to yourself. Slap your thigh or place your palm on your face.
And when the No. 6 seed Gauff needed to up her game, when she needed to move in the right direction before it was too late, that’s exactly what she did. She ever did.
Gauff demanded more noise from the partisan fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium – and of course got it – and secured the final 10 games with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over No. 32 Elise Mertens and thus reached fourth place in the round at Flushing Meadows.
Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler and Justin and Hailey Bieber were caught on camera with shocked expressions on their faces during Gauff’s comeback.
Coco Gauff celebrates her victory against Belgian Elise Mertens at the US Open
Gauff came back after losing the first set to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the third round match
Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler, Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey Bieber look on
“The energy today definitely helped me. “I felt you,” said Gauff, a 19-year-old from Florida. “I did my best in every aspect.”
“When you lose the first set, you know you have to show that you left all your energy in the first set and are ready to play… after I lost the first set, I said to myself: There is still a lot to do .’remaining and much of the game is still to be played.’
“Elise played well and I tried my best to win in three sets – I have to give credit for that. “In the last few weeks I’ve won in straight sets. So a win is a win – it doesn’t matter how you get it and I’m just happy. If anything, the three-setters show everyone else that I’m not going down without a fight.
The 2022 French Open runner-up heard plenty of vocal support from the crowd as she turned things around and won for the 14th time in her last 15 matches, all on hard courts.
This stretch follows a first-round exit at Wimbledon in July and includes the two biggest titles of Gauff’s career.
This was also her second win of the week after falling a set down.
“The three-setters show everyone else that I won’t go down without a fight,” said Gauff, who made it to the quarterfinals in New York a year ago.
To return to this round, she must beat Caroline Wozniacki, a 33-year-old competing in her third event since coming out of retirement.
Wozniacki won the 2018 Australian Open and was runner-up twice at the US Open before quitting tennis three and a half years ago to start a family.
“A match I never thought I would have to play – when she retired,” Gauff said. I remember saying in an interview, “I wish I had played against them.” So that wish came true. I’m really curious and is it really a generational battle? She is still fit and strong.’