Coco Gauff of the United States reacts against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine on day five of the 2024 US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Credit: Reuters/ Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
New York: Defending champion Coco Gauff was tested early but righted the ship in time to secure a spot in the last 16 at the US Open with a confidence-boosting 3-6 6-3 6-3 victory over plucky Ukrainian Elina Svitolina on Friday.
Third seed Gauff, who conceded just six games across the opening two rounds in New York, faced her toughest test yet against Svitolina but managed to raise her game to a higher level as the match wore on.
"I knew today was going to be a tough match. Every time I play Elina, she's a fighter, and yeah, I knew I had to bring my best tennis," Gauff said during her on-court interview.
"I thought I played well, I served much better than last match, except the last service game, but overall I'm proud of what I was able to do."
Gauff did well to swat aside a pair of early break points and reach 2-2 but Svitolina, the 27th seed, kept pressuring the American and broke at love for a 5-3 lead before serving out a set in which she won the final 11 points to grab control.
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 which she opened with a break.
In the next game, Gauff won a lung-bursting 37-shot rally en route to grabbing 2-0 lead and went on to establish 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, closing out the match when her opponent netted a forehand.
After her slow start, Gauff said she decided to be more aggressive while focusing on hitting cleaner shots.
"I was missing a lot of backhands in the net, so I was just trying to make less errors," said Gauff.
"And she was playing well, she was playing aggressive, she was hitting her spots, and I think the difference was just me being more aggressive, especially on the serve."
Gauff, who is trying to become the first woman to defend a US Open title since Serena Williams won three straight from 2012-14, will face American Emma Navarro. The 13th seed had knocked out Gauff in the fourth round of Wimbledon last month.
"I feel like that match at Wimbledon I think I mentally just literally collapsed on the court. I was very frustrated, and she played well," said Gauff.
"I have to expect her to play her best tennis, and I just need to know that I need to bring it and mentally be there from the beginning to the end."
The American women's cohort got a bit smaller by Friday night, however, as 2017 finalist Madison Keys lost a tightly fought contest against Belgian Elise Mertens 6-7(5) 7-5 6-4.
Keys, who reached the semi-finals a year ago, started strong but could not break through Mertens' defences in the end as the she was unable to convert on five break point chances in the final set.
Mertens will next play the winner of a match between Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova.