Coco Gauff Falls Short at US Open Amid Ongoing Exodus of Tennis Stars

Coco Gauff’s journey at the US Open comes to an end as the trend of tennis stars exiting the tournament continues, leaving fans in suspense.

Coco Gauff suffered the same fate as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, getting knocked out of the US Open tournament by Emma Navarro after committing numerous errors, ending her title defense.

When Gauff departed on Sunday, US aspirations were revitalized as Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz landed in the men’s quarterfinals. This sparked optimism for a potential first male Grand Slam champion from America since Andy Roddick triumphed at New York back in 2003.

In the fourth round, Gauff, who was ranked third, suffered a defeat to her fellow American with scores of 6-3 in the first set and narrowly losing at 4-6 for the second. Despite some strong plays by her opponent, it seemed like she caused most of her own problems on serve with an alarming number of double faults totalling up to 19 – which is just as many mistakes as all three previous matches combined – coupled along with making about 60 unforced errors.

Serena Williams remains the only woman to have successfully defended her US Open title since 2014 following the departure of the 20-year-old.

Navarro remarked that it is quite unbelievable for her to progress to the quarterfinals since she had been eliminated in the opening round during the last two years. She will challenge Paula Badosa from Spain and a victory would secure her place in the semifinals.

The defeat of Gauff was another setback for the ultimate major tournament of the season.

In his earliest exit in 18 years, Djokovic, the reigning men’s champion, was eliminated in the third round.

Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion who also won in New York last year to much fanfare, experienced a shocking upset during the second round.

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Gauff stated, “I put forth all my effort. Although there were areas for improvement in terms of execution, such as wishing I had served better; doing so would have resulted in a different outcome.”

Her fellow countryman Tiafoe has now joined the exclusive group of American male tennis players including former champions such as Andre Agassi, Roddick and Pete Sampras who have made it to a minimum of three US Open quarterfinals since 2000.

Alexei Popyrin, who had upset Djokovic in the previous round, was defeated 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 2-6 and 6-3 by Tiafoe – ranked at number twenty.

In order to secure a position in the semifinals, Tiafoe is set to battle against Bulgarian experienced player Grigor Dimitrov.

Earlier in the day, Fritz’s victory over Casper Ruud secured him a spot as the second American man to make it into the quarterfinals at 26 years old.

To achieve his third victory, Tommy Paul must overcome the obstacle of facing Jannik Sinner, who holds the title of world number one on Monday.

Tiafoe reminisced, “In the past, I would hit a ball against a wall and imagine myself playing on Arthur Ashe Stadium. That was where the Williams sisters and Roger Federer won countless times.”

Being a part of that court inspires me to be my best self.

Dimitrov, seeded ninth, defeated Andrey Rublev of Russia – the sixth seed- with a scoreline reading 6-3, 7-6 (7/3),1-6 ,32 and finally winning the match by scoring 6 points in an exciting final set. With this win Dimitrov has made his way to quarterfinals for first time since beating Federer during his last appearance at New York in 2019.

Having lost the 2020 final to Dominic Thiem despite a two-set advantage, Alexander Zverev secured his fourth quarterfinal berth by defeating Brandon Nakashima from America with scores of 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 and finally ending at six-two.

Nakashima, who is ranked 50th, was bombarded with 14 aces and struck by an overwhelming count of 51 winners from Zverev – currently holding the fourth rank.

Coming up next is a quarter-final encounter against Fritz, ranked 12th, who staged an impressive comeback after losing two sets to win their dramatic fourth-round match at Wimbledon in July.

Zverev remarked that the match was incredible and anticipated a challenging competition as he always does when pitted against Taylor.

With the aid of his 24 aces, Fritz advanced to his third Grand Slam quarterfinal this year after defeating Casper Ruud – who finished runner-up in 2022 and currently holds eighth rank- by winning sets three-six, six-four, six-three, and six-two.

Badosa, who was born in New York, secured her inaugural US Open quarterfinal spot by defeating Wang Yafan of China with a score of 6-1 and 6-2.

Although the first two games lasted for 17 minutes, Badosa managed to save all eight break points. However, despite her efforts, the scoreline was one-sided.

“The humidity was overwhelming, I felt like I might pass out,” expressed the 26-year-old.

By unleashing 41 winners, Aryna Sabalenka – the Women’s second seed and Australian Open champion who finished as runner-up to Gauff last year – sailed into a fourth consecutive quarterfinal by comfortably defeating Elise Mertens of Belgium with scores of 6-2, 6-4.

In the next round, Sabalenka will challenge either Zheng Qinwen or Donna Vekic. These two were competing against each other in a rematch of the Olympic Games final that was won by Zheng, a renowned Chinese player.