In the opening set of her third-round match against Elise Mertens on Friday, Coco Gauff looked fallible, frustrated and as if she was finishing early, a far cry from earlier this week at the US Open.
Mertens, a 27-year-old Belgian, played loosely and aggressively, while Gauff, the 19-year-old American superstar, made mistake after mistake on almost every shot. Gauff, who normally has preternatural emotional maturity and composure, showed frustration early in the match and shouted in uncharacteristic anger after double-faulting in the first set, which Mertens won 6-3.
It was suddenly easy to imagine Gauff’s run at the US Open coming to an end on that chilly evening in New York.
Instead, Gauff stepped in and turned the emotional tables on Mertens. She won the second set less uncertainly, 6-3, and in the third it became clear how much Gauff wanted to win as she used her tremendous foot speed to track down every ball, forcing Mertens to make mistakes. Gauff won the third set cleanly 6-0.
“The energy today definitely helped me, I felt you, I played every point with full force,” said Gauff in her interview on the pitch. “When you lose the first set, you know you have to show that you left all that energy in the first set and are ready to play.”
Gauff said that the “three setters show everyone else that I’m not going down without a fight.”
The early evening game at Arthur Ashe Stadium drew a packed house that included pop star Justin Bieber and his wife, model and influencer Hailey Bieber, as well as Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and actress Katie Holmes.
The audience was one-sided for Gauff from the opening serve of the evening. “Let’s go, Coco” and “Finish her, Coco” rang throughout the stadium. The crowd jumped to its feet and fans cheered each other on for every positive turn for Gauff, even if progress was slow until the second set.
The two faced each other for the third time on Friday, with Gauff winning their last meeting at the 2022 French Open in straight sets. Gauff admitted in an interview before the game that she had won the last game comfortably and had not expected to win so easily this time.
Shortly after the start of the first set it seemed almost certain that Mertens would reach the round of 16. Then everything turned around.
Gauff lost the first game of the second set and then fought hard to hold serve after six deuce points. On the sixth shot, she hit an ace down the middle and yelled, “Come on!” At that point, it was her fourth ace of the match. As the game progressed, she hit a risky ball over her head, and when Mertens hit a curving backhand down the court, Gauff pounced, sprinting to the ball and then leaping into the air to smash it over the line with her forehand.
When she won the second set with a backhand winner down the line, she clenched her fist, held out her arms and waved to the crowd to cheer her on. Mertens looked hopeless.
Gauff started the third set energetically when Mertens’ game completely fell apart. She netted her forehand, hit long backhands and made a double fault.
Gauff next plays Caroline Wozniacki, who recently returned to tennis after retiring three years ago to focus on starting a family. Wozniacki had an excellent start to the tournament, defeating Petra Kvitova in straight sets in her first-round match and Jennifer Brady in three sets in her second-round match after losing a set.
Gauff said she told Wozniacki after she retired that she wished she had had the chance to play her. “This wish has come true,” she said. “Playing a legend like her is really exciting and I won’t take this moment for granted.”
Gauff, who had looked like a veteran when she beat Mertens in the third set, was quick to remind us that she is still a teenager.
In an interview at the ESPN booth in Ashe after the game, Gauff said she noticed Bieber in the crowd during the second set.
“Oh yeah, I definitely saw who was there,” she said, giggling. “I thought I couldn’t lose in front of Justin Bieber. After seeing that, I didn’t lose a game. The first time I saw him I felt a little uncomfortable, then I remembered that President Obama and Michelle Obama were at my first-round game.”