Coco Gauff, of the United States, returns to Shuai Zhang, of China,, during the fourth round of the … [+]
During the final game of her match with Zhang Shuai on Sunday at the U.S. Open, Coco Gauff sprinted crosscourt to race down a shot and managed to get a two-handed backhand over the net.
Charging forward, Shuai hit a forehand volley into the net to lose the point and Gauff proceeded to look toward her player box and begin wagging her right index finger Dikembe Mutombo-style. Shuai put both hands on the side of her head and looked down, knowing she had blown a seemingly easy volley winner.
Gauff, 18, then closed out the game and the match, 7-5, 7-5, in 1 hour, 57 minutes to become the youngest American quarterfinalist at the U.S. Open since Melanie Oudin in 2009. Gauff hit 33 winners against 25 unforced errors and broke Shuai five times.
“It feels insane, I mean Ashe Stadium chanting my name,” she said on court. “I was trying not to smile on the bench on my last changeover. I was trying to stay in the moment, in my head I was smiling. I can’t believe you guys were chanting like that. It’s crazy.”
No. 12 Gauff is into her third major quarterfinal but first at her home Slam. She reached the the French Open final earlier this year — losing to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek — and is now looking to make another deep run in New York. Gauff has won 11 of her last 13 major matches.
She will earn $445,000 for reaching the quarters, and would make $705,000 for advancing to the semis. The champion will take home $2.6 million and the runner-up $1.3 million.
FILE – Billie Jean King, left, meets with Serena Williams, of the United States, after Williams … [+]
“I think it’s so great for the sport, Coco’s so well-spoken,” former Australian Open champion and ESPN analyst Caroline Wozniacki said on air. “I think she’s very marketable, obviously a great tennis player so it’s so good for tennis.
“Now that Serena is evolving away, we have young players coming up and it’s fun to see.”
Next up she will face No. 17 Carolina Garcia, who dispatched American Alison Riske-Amritraj, 6-1, 6-4 earlier Sunday and remains red-hot after winning the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio coming into the Open.
“She is playing somebody now that has been on fire the last few months, Wozniacki said of Garcia. “Not an easy quarterfinal match but at this stage of the tournament, it gets tough. Coco being at home with the homecourt advantage, it’s going to be a great match.”
Two other American women — No. 8 Jessica Pegula and No. 19 Danielle Collins — will play their fourth-round matches on Monday.
Jessica Pegula, of the United States, reacts during a match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, of … [+]
Sloane Stephens in 2017 was the last American woman to win the U.S. Open and Sofia Kenin at the Australian Open was the last to win a major.
“I really like what I’m seeing from Collins, I think she’s got a great opportunity,” ESPN’s Brad Gilbert said on air. “And I think Coco has gotten a lot better. I think there’s some opportunity in the draw. Same with Pegula
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we had at least three American women in the quarters and I wouldn’t be surprised if we had one win it. I think there’s opportunity left.”
No. 22 Frances Tiafoe is the lone American man remaining in the round of 16 but he must face No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the fourth round Monday. Nadal is 22-0 in Grand Slam matches this season and has won the Australian and French Opens.
No American man has won a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open, a stretch of 74 majors.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2022/09/04/coco-gauff-becomes-youngest-american-to-reach-us-open-quarterfinals-in-13-years/