Coco Gauff is first American teen since Serena Williams to reach back-to-back U.S. Open quarterfinals

Queens, New York——

Coco Gauff is the first American teenager since Serena Williams more than two decades ago to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open two years in a row, so the The 19-year-old girl from Florida knows how to get out of trouble on the tennis court.

Gauff gave up a break after suffering two double faults and an error that split her in the second set of her fourth-round match against Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium , need a chance to think it through.

So Goff turned to the near-constant chatter of Brad Gilbert (one of the two coaches in the front row seat) and said, “Please stop.” A few minutes later, Goff said, “Don’t Speak.”

At that time, Wozniacki broke serve in four consecutive games in the third set. Then, just when the game seemed to be slipping away due to a series of unforced errors, Goff redirected his shot and gained some distance. She defeated Wozniacki, a 33-year-old mother of two who had just returned, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the last six games.

“I’m frustrated. It’s not really against him. It’s just that I need to readjust,” said sixth-seeded Gauff. “At that moment, I didn’t want to hear anything. I just wanted to think about what I was doing.”

Her next opponent will be No. 20 seed and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. Ostapenko defeated defending champion Iga Swiatek 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Sunday night, after 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic defeated 6-6. Defeated qualifier Borna Gojo 2, 7-5, 6-4.

Djokovic will face ninth-ranked American Taylor Fritz on Tuesday. This will be Djokovic’s 13th quarterfinal match at Flushing Meadows and Fritz’s first.

Gauff, whose best performance at a Grand Slam was reaching the final at Roland Garros in 2022 before losing to Swiatek, has now won 15 of her past 16 matches.

After losing in the first round at Wimbledon in July, she also won the two most important titles of her career – the Washington Open and Cincinnati. Meanwhile, Pere Riba serves as her full-time coach and Gilbert serves as an interim consultant.

Television microphones have been capturing Gilbert repeatedly expressing his thoughts to Goff during games over the past week.

In New York against 2018 Australian Open champion and two-time runner-up Wozniacki, Gauff tried to find the right balance between being aggressive (what she wanted) and not being overly aggressive (what Gilbert wanted) balance.

Goff said Gilbert’s “scout reports were spot on.” “Sometimes you have to change something. Today I had to change something.”

It was the hottest day of the tournament so far, with temperatures reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and Gauff kept losing points in the second set, committing 22 unforced errors. But she made only eight errors in the final set and made great progress in the rest of the game. Another key point in the third game: Goff led 11-2 in the winning frame.

“She’s always been a great athlete. She’s always had a backhand, a serve and a fighting spirit,” Wozniacki said. “I feel like now, everything is coming together for her.”

In the third set, with the playing field covered in shadows, Wozniacki told chair umpire Louise Azemar-Nzel that it was difficult to see the ball and asked for the stadium lights to be turned on.

“I’m really grateful,” Wozniacki said.

Did not happen.

“She’s back like she never left,” Goff said. “It was an honor to be on the court with her today.”

Another women’s quarterfinal matchup is between No. 10 player Karolina Muchova and No. 30 player Sorana Serstia.

For the second year in a row, at least one American player reached the semifinals. That’s because No. 10 Frances Tiafoe and unseeded Ben Shelton, who reached this stage 12 months ago, won in Sunday’s quarter-finals.

Fritz defeated Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 to move three Americans into the quarterfinals – the first time since The most since 2005 when Andre Agassi, James Blake and Robbie Ginepri reached the quarter-finals.

In the first game of the day at Ashe, 20-year-old Shelton hit a pair of aces in a single game at 149 mph, the fastest of any tournament and the fastest in Flushing Turf eliminated the top-ranked player and earned a spot in the quarterfinals for the first time. 14 Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

After the game, Shelton, wearing a muscle shirt, stood under the seats where his father, a former tour pro who now coaches Ben, stood with his father, mother and sister. Sheldon flexed his left bicep.

“Straight adrenaline,” Shelton said of those big southpaw serves.