Coco Gauff Overpowered By Caroline Garcia In U.S. Open Quarterfinals, But The Future Looks Bright

For much of her U.S. Open run, Coco Gauff was able to get the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd behind her and feed off the energy in the biggest tennis stadium in the world.

But in her first quarterfinal at her home Slam, Gauff fell behind Carolina Garcia quickly and, despite some late cheers of “Let’s go, Coco,” was never able to stir the crowd’s passion for a sustained period.

No. 17 Garcia, the hottest player on the women’s tour coming into the Open, jumped out to a 4-0 lead on No. 12 Gauff, dominating her from the baseline with superior power, firing off huge serves when needed and controlling the tempo of the match en route to a 6-3, 6-4 victory in 1 hour, 37 minutes.

“The crowd is just dying for a reason to get into this, but they need a reason,” ESPN’s Patrick McEnroe said on air during the match of Gauff, the youngest American woman to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals since 2009.

The 18-year-old Gauff had beaten Garcia, 28, twice this year but that was before the Frenchwoman found her mojo. She has now won 13 straight matches, including eight at the Western & Southern Open outside Cincinnati, where she had to come through qualifying before beating three Top-10 players en route to the title. Garcia, a two-time French Open doubles champion, has now won 29 of her last 33 matches.

While Gauff will end 2022 with an appearance in the French Open final and a U.S. Open quarterfinal under her belt, Garcia advances to her first major semifinal where she will face No. 5 Ons Jabeur, the Wimbledon runner-up, in the semifinals Thursday night. Jabeur prevailed over Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-4, 7-6(4), after Tomljanovic had ended Serena Williams’ career Friday night.

“I’m looking forward to the next challenge and see what I can improve,” Garcia, who is 0-2 against Jabeur, said on court.

Gauff will take home $445,000 for reaching the quarters, while Garcia remains alive for the $2.6 million paycheck the winner will receive. The runner-up takes home $1.3 million.

“It’s not going to be this time but she will win many majors,” 18-time Grand Slam champion Chrissie Evert said on ESPN.

Three-time U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters is a big fan of Gauff’s and believes she’s “on the right path” toward eventually winning major titles.

“As a player, I know how hard it is,” Clijsters told NJ Advance Media. “I think she has all the ingredients to do it, but it’s still easier said than done. She has all the ingredients to go for it and she’s getting closer and closer.”

Clijsters added: “You feel like every part fits, the whole team works whereas with some players they struggle for a while to find that whereas with her, I feel like she has everything going for her. And she has a good work ethic and she wants to learn. She doesn’t get distracted with the side things and the attention that come with being a famous tennis player. I really enjoy watching her.”

In the first set, Gauff double-faulted to get broken for 0-2. She then hit an easy running forehand long at 30-40 to go down 0-4 for a double break.

“Caroline is playing well but Coco is making uncharacteristic errors that she normally doesn’t make,” Evert said on air.

Gauff got a break back on a Garcia backhand into the net to cut it to 4-1. But Garcia closed out the set on her serve.

Coming into the match, Garcia had won 35 of 37 service games and she kept up that domination against Gauff.

Garcia started off the second set with a quick break and then consolidated for a 2-0 lead.

Serving at 3-2, Garcia faced a break point but fired off a 111-mph service winner to fend it off and then held serve for 4-2, raising her left hand in triumph and then bringing it to a fist.

There appeared to be a slight crack in her armor in the eighth game. But from 0-30 down, she held for 5-3, cranking out a 105-mph ace on game point.

On match point, Gauff hit a backhand into the net, Garcia dropped her racquet and ran around the court flying her arms like airplane wings.

“I mean, I don’t know how to describe it,” Garcia told ESPN’s Pam Shriver on court. “It’s crazy, the atmosphere was very, very strong to play in America, it’s crazy energy, and my head is just buzzing.”

Of the women remaining in the draw, only No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek has won a major title. Swiatek will face No. 8 Jessica Pegula — the lone American woman left in the draw — in the quarterfinals Wednesday (7 p.m., ESPN).

While the men’s game has been dominated by Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (who have won 15 of the last 17 majors), the women’s games has been much more diverse:

—14 of the last 21 women’s majors have been won by different women

—12 of the last 21 majors featured a first-time champion

Players like Garcia and Jabeur are hoping that trend continues this week.