Coco Gauff was unable to successfully defend her US Open championship after a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 lost to fellow American Emma Navarro on Sunday, in the fourth round. Gauff, the top-ranking women’s player, thus joined the list of notable players to exit early from this year’s Flushing Meadows tournament.
Gauff, seeded third, aimed to rectify her fourth-round Wimbledon loss earlier this year, but was stunned by Navarro’s comprehensive performance at Arthur Ashe Stadium, which saw Navarro enter the quarterfinals for the first time.
Despite rallying after losing the initial set, Gauff’s 19 double faults and 60 unforced errors ensured her first Grand Slam title defense ended prematurely. The 20-year-old athlete commented that she had given it her all, both mentally and emotionally, and acknowledged that she could have served better and that Navarro had executed well at the contest.
With Gauff’s early exit, she will fall out of the top five in global rankings. Navarro will face Spain’s Paula Badosa, who decisively led Wang Yafan of China 6-1, 6-2 at Louis Armstrong Stadium, securing her first quarterfinal berth in New York.
On the men’s front, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov, Taylor Fritz, and Frances Tiafoe advanced to the quarterfinals, broadening the competition with the absence of Novak Djokovic, a four-time champion. Zverev, 27, is still seeking his inaugural Grand Slam title, earning his 13th entry into the quarterfinals of a major following a comeback victory against American Brandon Nakashima; 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
The German competitor, who suffered a defeat to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 final on a decisive set tie-break, maintains he is still driven. He expressed satisfaction with his current tennis performance, stating that his ambitions remain high and he is eager to see how the ongoing tournament will unfold. On his next match, he’ll be up against another American player, Fritz, who successfully battled through a slow start to triumph over Norwegian Casper Ruud, the previous year’s runner-up, with a score of 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-2.
Having benefited from the premature departures of Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, Fritz shares the quarter-finals with Tiafoe in the hopes of breaking the 21-year American drought for a domestically bred men’s champion. Popyrin, the player responsible for Djokovic’s shocking early exit, was unable to proceed further as a highly charged evening audience on Arthur Ashe cheered Tiafoe to a 6-4 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3 victory. Despite facing some challenges in the contest, including rebounding from a second set 5-2 deficit against the powerful Australian server, the 20th seed American held his ground. Tiafoe capitalised on a Popyrin double fault in the fourth set to break a 4-2 and secure a quarter-final spot against Dimitrov, who had previously taken down sixth seed Andrey Rublev, garnering applause from Serena Williams.
In the women’s competition, Aryna Sabalenka, who took second place to Gauff the previous year, beat her former doubles teammate Elise Mertens with a 6-2 6-4 win, advancing to the last eight. The double Australian Open champion displayed exceptional form, particularly in the first set where she showcased her robust first serve and lethal forehand skills.
Belgian player Mertens ramped up the difficulty during the second set, forcing Sabalenka from Belarus to fend off four break points. However, with an additional 23 winners contributing to a total of 41 for the match, Sabalenka managed to secure a place in the quarter-finals for the fourth consecutive year.
Sabalenka expressed her fondness for playing at these grounds, citing the fantastic crowd and stunning court. She stated her desire to prolong her stay and fully immerse herself in the enjoyable atmosphere.
Looking forward, Sabalenka’s next match will be against Olympic gold medallist, Zheng Qinwen. Qinwen recently triumphed over Donna Vekic in a thrilling tie-breaker, replicating their encounter in the Paris gold medal final.
However, the record-breaking time of the match was a point of contention. Finishing at 2.15am marked the latest completion time for a women’s Grand Slam match, overtaking the previous record of 2.13am, set in 2021, when Maria Sakkari defeated Bianca Andreescu in the fourth round.
Ex-men’s world number one, Andy Murray, expressed disapproval of late finishing times, calling the scheduling a “shambles”. Through a post on social media platform X, he criticised the “amateurish” handling of games running into the early hours and called on the sport’s governing bodies to take action. Reuters reported all this information.