The first week of the US Open was all about Serena Williams and deservedly so. However, the exit of the 23-time Grand Slam champion has turned the spotlight on some players who played spectacular tennis in the early rounds. One of them is American Coco Gauff.
of French Open finalist played a night match at Arthur Ashe Stadium against France’s Caroline Garcia. The No. 17 seed has been on the roll, winning the warm-up tournament on hard court in Cincinnati and going through the first four rounds without dropping a set. This is a match that has been expected since the draw. It didn’t live up to everyone’s competitive hopes, however, as Garcia defeated Gauff 6-3, 6-4 in a very one-sided affair.
While Garcia has not played in Ashe this year, all of Coco’s matches have been on the show court and she is the undisputed fan favorite. The 18-year-old phenom has been very dominant in New Yorkso the expectations for him are higher than they have ever been.
The match started with some early nerves from Gauff, which led to numerous unforced errors. Those errors and trouble with her first serve gave Garcia a quick 4-0 lead. This was a completely different Coco than we’ve seen on this tour. I honestly can’t remember when I’ve seen him like this.
Coco was able to fight back, even getting a break of serve, but in the end Garcia cruised to a 6-3 win in the first set.
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Unfortunately, the second set didn’t start much better. Garcia forced Coco to play her game, controlling the pace and taking a more aggressive role. To her credit, Gauff kept fighting and was able to catch the French player off guard several times. Things didn’t get any better for the No. 1 seed. 12, as Caroline had an answer for everything Coco threw at her.
Honestly, Garcia just beat Gauff. She took the field with a game plan and executed it perfectly. Coco was on the back foot from the start and never recovered.
Caroline Garcia heads to the semi-finals to play Ons Jabeur, while Coco heads home to regroup for the final tournaments of the season.
