American third seed Coco Gauff completed a confidence-boosting 6-3 6-1 win over Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the US Open third round yesterday, finding her rhythm after a nervous start to the tournament.
Gauff made a flurry of unforced errors in her opening match, and struggled with her serve in a tearful second-round win, but the 2023 champion kept her cool to subdue the 28th seed. “It’s been an emotional week,” she said.
“I think I needed those tough moments to be able to move forward. I was putting so much pressure on myself.”
After trading early breaks, Gauff broke the Pole in the eighth game and pumped her fist in celebration as Frech sent a shot out on set point. She outlasted Frech in a 20-shot rally to get the break in the third game of the second set, and broke her to love in the fifth as the unseeded Pole made a number of unforced errors.
The American was firing on all cylinders from the baseline in the final game, and gave credit to her devoted fans after sealing victory. “Today showed I was really having fun out there,” said Gauff, who booked her fourth straight trip to the Flushing Meadows round of 16. “The support means a lot.”
Her win gave American fans a fillip after two big set-backs on Friday.
Sixth seed Ben Shelton retired from his third-round clash with Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, and 17th seed Frances Tiafoe was knocked out in a big blow to American hopes of ending their 22-year wait for a men’s Grand Slam champion.
Twenty-three American men began the tournament looking to win the title and emulate compatriot Andy Roddick, who claimed the Flushing Meadows crown in 2003. But Friday’s shock results meant fourth seed Taylor Fritz was left standing as the country’s best title hope at the year’s final major after he fought past Swiss Jerome Kym 7-6(3) 6-7(9) 6-4 6-4 at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Shelton grabbed his left shoulder and winced in pain after hitting a forehand early in the fourth set in a tight clash at Louis Armstrong Stadium and pinched at the spot as he prepared to receive a serve from Mannarino in the second game. “I just did something to my shoulder, I don’t know what it is. I’m in a lot of pain,” Shelton told his father and coach, Bryan Shelton, before taking a medical timeout midway through the second game in the fourth set.
Shelton later told his father that it was the “worst pain” he had felt in his life, before meeting with the physio again. He, however, managed to hold his own for a while against left-hander Mannarino, who produced some moments of magic, but looked dejected at the break and shed tears into his towel before pulling out, to gasps from the home crowd.
“When he started having pain, he was leading in the match,” said Mannarino, who rallied from a set down to draw level at 3-6 6-3 4-6 6-4 when the match was abandoned.
“He probably would have won. It’s unfortunate for him and very lucky for me. I don’t really know what to say right now. I suppose I’m happy to get through. I wish him the best. I was having good fun on the court — there were some long rallies. I lost some of them, won some of them. It was fun to play. Ben’s such an amazing player, it was a great match. I was enjoying my time on court, even if I was losing.”
Reuters
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