US Open: Gauff out-hits Wozniacki to make quarter-finals

American Coco Gauff, the No 6 seed, won against former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Sunday.

It was a match that Gauff never thought she’d get to play, so the 19-year-old said ahead of her clash with Wozniacki. With the American only three years old when Wozniacki played her first US Open, and the Dane now having a two-year-old of her own, this was a real meeting of generations.

But despite the age gap, both women went toe-to-toe and produced some high quality tennis for the better part of two hours on Arthur Ashe.

Gauff gets the better of big momentum swings

Who knows how this match would have unfolded, had it been a best of five sets encounter.

The clash was defined by big swings in momentum, with Gauff starting and finishing the match strongly, and Wozniacki dominating for a period in the second and early third sets.

Starting off strong, Gauff moved Wozniacki side to side, finishing points off at the net as she out-hit her opponent across the course of the first set. The American claimed it 6-3, despite conceding an early break in her first service game.

In the second set, both women held tight service game to 3-3, with Wozniacki having a look at break point on each of Gauff’s serves. However, in the seventh game, the Dane locked in, and Gauff lost her forehand. Any ability to continue executing her game plan of pushing Wozniacki around and pouncing on short balls was undermined by constantly spraying balls long and wide.

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Wozniacki went on a tear to win the set and go up a break in the third, dropping only four points from 3-3 in the second. It looked like Gauff’s return to the US Open quarter-finals was slipping away from her.

Gauff finds forehand, Wozniacki loses serve

All of a sudden, Gauff’s forehand was back, and Wozniacki’s serve was gone.

The American broke back immediately, then went on an incredible run of six games to claim the match on her second set point, winning the third 6-1 after being down a break at 0-1.

“Definitely getting it to 2-1 was the turning point,” said Gauff on-court after the match. “I showed I was still in the match by breaking back.

“I was still being aggressive. I knew I had to go for my shots, in some moments I missed, but that’s OK.”

Up next, Gauff will play the winner of Iga Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko, with mouth-watering rematch against the world No 1, who the American beat for the first time in Cincinnati last month, on the cards.

When asked if her recent performance in Cincinnati, where she went on to win her first Masters 1000 title, gives her more confidence heading into the US Open quarter-finals, the 19-year-old was honest:

“Honestly I don’t think about the two titles, I’m just really focused on this tournament. I have confidence in myself that I can go even further.”

The 19-year-old American beat German qualifier Laura Siegemund (3-6, 6-2, 6-4), Russian Mirra Andreeva (6-3, 6-2) and Belgian Elise Mertens, the No 32 seed (3-6, 6-3, 6-0) ahead of her victory, while earlier in the tournament, Caroline Wozniacki won against Russian qualifier Tatiana Prozorova (6-3, 6-2), No 11 seed Petra Kvitova (7-5, 7-6 (5)) and American Jennifer Brady (4-6, 6-3, 6-1).

New York (Grand Slam), other last 16 results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 44.700.000, most recent results first):

• Daria Kasatkina vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Ons Jabeur vs. Qinwen Zheng
• Madison Keys vs. Jessica Pegula
• Peyton Stearns vs. Marketa Vondrousova
• Iga Swiatek vs. Jelena Ostapenko
• Sorana Cirstea (30) beat Belinda Bencic (15): 6-3, 6-3
• Karolina Muchova (10) beat Xinyu Wang: 6-3, 5-7, 6-1

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