Coco Gauff lost her US Open title defense in the fourth round on Sunday, falling 6-3 4-6 6-3 to Emma Navarro, an American player. This year at Flushing Meadows, the current women’s champion joined other top players in exiting the tournament early.
Champion Gauff was aiming to retaliate for her fourth-round defeat at this year’s Wimbledon, but Navarro surprised the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium with a strong display in all aspects, securing her first quarter finals appearance.
Despite falling behind in a set, Champion Gauff, the third seed, managed to stage a comeback in the match. However, with a total of 19 doubles faults and 60 unforced errors, her hopes of defending her Grand Slam title were dashed, leading to a disappointing outcome.
“I put in all my mental and emotional effort,” stated Champion Gauff, 20, who will now fall out of the top five in the world rankings.
Naturally, there were aspects of my performance that could have been better, particularly my serving. I believe my situation would have been different had I taken that action. Emma performed exceptionally. I believed she excelled in every task Champion Gauff stated.
In the men’s competition, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov, Taylor Fritz, and Frances Tiafoe advanced to the quarterfinals in the lower half of the bracket, which became more accessible following Novak Djokovic’s fourth-round elimination.
Zverev, who is 27 years old and has yet to win a Grand Slam, advanced to the quarterfinals of a major tournament for the 13th time by overcoming a one-set deficit to defeat American Brandon Nakashima 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-2.
The German, who was defeated by Dominic Thiem in the 2020 final after a deciding set tiebreak, stated that he is still highly motivated.
I still have aspirations I want to fulfill. I am still determined to accomplish some of my established goals. I’m pleased with my current tennis performance. “We will observe the progress of this week.”
The fourth seed will now go up against another American player, Fritz, who managed to defeat Norwegian Casper Ruud, the runner-up in 2022, after a slow start, winning 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-2.
Tiafoe also advanced to the quarterfinals with Fritz, aiming to become the first American men’s champion in 21 years following Djokovic and Alcaraz’s early exits.
Alexei Popyrin caused a major upset by defeating Djokovic, but he couldn’t advance past Tiafoe, who had the support of a loud evening crowd at Arthur Ashe, and ultimately won 6-4 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3.
The 20th seeded American faced some challenges, having to come from behind 5-2 in the second set against the powerful Australian.
Despite this, Tiafoe managed to break for a 4-2 lead in the fourth set due to a double fault by Popyrin. He then maintained his strong play to advance to the quarterfinals, where he will face Dimitrov. Earlier, Dimitrov received support from Serena Williams as he defeated sixth seed Andrey Rublev in a match that lasted five sets.
Aryna Sabalenka, the women’s second seed and last year’s runner-up to Champion Gauff, maintained her strong performance by defeating her former doubles partner Elise Mertens 6-2 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals.
The two-time winner of the Australian Open displayed dominating form in the initial set, showcasing a powerful first serve and making effective use of her net play, while frequently employing her powerful forehand.
Mertens from Belgium posed a challenge in the second set, causing the Belarusian player to defend against four break points. However, with 23 more winners in total, Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals for the fourth consecutive year.
Sabalenka expressed her pleasure in playing at this location and mentioned that she will compete against the winner of the match between Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen and Donna Vekic.
“The crowd is fantastic. I love being in large stadiums, feeling the support from the fans. I simply prefer not to depart early from this place, you understand. I simply desire to remain here as much as possible and appreciate this lovely court and atmosphere.
Navarro will face off against Spain’s Paula Badosa in the next round after Badosa defeated Wang Yafan in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals in New York for the first time.