‘Too many free points’: Gauff rues poor service game in US Open loss to Navarro
NEW YORK (Reuters) — Coco Gauff said she had regrets over her poor service game after recording 19 double faults in Sunday’s U.S. Open fourth round loss to Emma Navarro, even though she was mentally prepared to face her American compatriot who beat her at Wimbledon.
Defending champ Gauff was beaten 6-3 4-6 6-3 by Navarro in a loss where she also made 60 unforced errors with little going right for the third seed at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Gauff said she was “mentally better” to take on Navarro after losing at Wimbledon in straight sets but the 20-year-old said she had to find consistency on her serve if she is to improve.
“I fought really hard today. Overall I think I played well for the most part. I just didn’t take care of my serve, so that was the biggest difference. Too many free points on my serve,” Gauff told reporters.
“Mentally and emotionally I gave it my all. Of course, there were things execution-wise, where I wish I could serve better. I think if I would have did that, it would have been a different story for me in the match.
“But Emma played really well… She was really aggressive on my second serve, putting more pressure on my serve and being solid from the baseline.”
Aryna Sabalenka rose to the top of the rankings last year after she brought a biomechanics trainer on board to help her improve her powerful but erratic serve and Gauff said she was open to considering something similar.
“I definitely want to get other opinions. Also I think it’s sometimes more of an emotional, mental thing because if I go out on the practice court right now, I would make 30 serves in a row. I’ve done it before,” Gauff added.
“I think it’s also just kind of a mental hurdle that I have to get over when it comes with that. But I definitely want to look at other things, because I don’t want to lose matches like this anymore.”
While Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz admitted they had run out of steam after the Paris Olympics, leading to early exits at Flushing Meadows, Gauff said that was not the case as she was excited to compete in New York.
“I felt like physically and mentally ready, but for sure I think in Toronto and Cincy (Cincinnati) it was a little bit mentally draining, those tournaments having to switch surfaces (from claycourt to hard),” Gauff said.
“But coming into this, I didn’t feel any exhaustion. I was actually really excited to play… Even today I felt ready to go on court.”
Dimitrov outlasts Rublev to punch quarter-final ticket
Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov dashed a comeback attempt by sixth seed Andrey Rublev to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals for the first time since 2019 with a 6-3 7-6(3) 1-6 3-6 6-3 victory on Sunday.
The ninth seed won 80% of his first-serve points and fired 17 aces to frustrate the Russian, who slammed his racket against the Arthur Ashe Stadium court and his own body, which resulted in a cut wrist that required medical attention in the first set.
The evenly matched clash swung the Bulgarian’s way in the decisive fifth set to the delight of the New York crowd, which included Serena Williams sipping the event’s signature honey deuce cocktail.
Rublev’s frustration spilled over when he started the fourth game of the first set with two double faults, and he blasted a forehand into the net and another wide for Dimitrov’s first break of the match.
Dimitrov looked to be in the driver’s seat after he claimed the final five points of a second-set tiebreak, only to see the Russian battle back to tie the match by seizing the next two sets.
A fourth game break in the final set gave Dimitrov an edge he would not surrender, setting up a quarter-final meeting with either American Frances Tiafoe or Australia’s Alexei Popyrin.
