Watch: Coco Gauff Bursts Into Tears Twice Due to Serve Struggles Against Donna Vekic at US Open

Honestly, today was a tough match for me. But I’m just happy with how I was able to manage. It’s been a rough couple of weeks.

Coco Gauff said during her on-court interview

The home favorite started to cry after this as fans on Arthur Ashe Stadium cheered for her to lift up her spirits. Watching her from the stands was legendary gymnast Simone Biles, the seven-time Olympic gold medalist, whose presence served as an inspiration to the 21-year-old.

You guys bring me so much joy. I’m doing this for myself but also for you. No matter how tough it gets inside, you can do it.

Coco Gauff added

Gauff broke the tie to take a 2-1 head-to-head lead over the 2024 Paris Olympics silver medalist. She will next be locking horns with the 28th seed, Magdalena Frech. The 2023 US Open champion will be facing the Polish ace for the third time in singles. Gauff beat Frech in their previous two encounters. Apart from her win at the French Open this year, she also played the finals of the Madrid Open and the Italian Open, losing the matches to the Belarusian ace and Paolini, respectively.

Coco Gauff is optimistic despite her breakdown in her second-round match

Coco Gauff had a bad day in the office, but in spite of that, she persevered till the end to keep herself alive in her home Grand Slam event. At the press conference later, the home favorite, who is also dealing with extreme pressure and serves, decided to be kind to herself.

It feels human. I think being an athlete, people kind of disregard that side of us. People say things like, ‘You’re number three in the world, you should be better,’ but at the end of the day, if I stopped tomorrow, I’d have a career so many people dream of. In that moment, I gave in to the pressure, but that’s normal. Every pro athlete has felt that pressure, whether they showed it publicly like I did or privately.

It was Aryna Sabalenka whom Gauff defeated in the 2023 US Open final. Her victory over the three-time Grand Slam singles champion in Paris was Gauff’s second Major singles win.

After her French Open win, Gauff failed to win a single set in the two tournaments- the Berlin Open and Wimbledon– she played on the grass swing. In the two WTA 1000 tournaments on the North American hard-court swing that are held before the last Major of the season, Gauff lost to eventual champion Victoria Mboko in the fourth round and Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals, respectively.

If she wins or has a better campaign than the 2022 US Open champion, Iga Swiatek, Gauff will remove her from the No.2 ranking. In the live rankings, Gauff stands in the second spot with 7764 points, while the six-time Grand Slam champion has 7633 points.

Gauff will meet the Pole at Flushing Meadows if they both reach the semifinals. Swiatek survived a scare against Suzan Lamens in the second round and has scheduled a third-round clash with Anna Kalinskaya.