*Flushing, New York – Coco Gauff had a mission to accomplish and an axe to grind at the 2024 US Open. She took to Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday with hopes of continuing her quest to defend her title and of getting revenge on her third-round opponent, Emma Navarro – also American. Navarro was responsible for sending her packing early at this year’s Wimbledon, so she needed to bring her A-game to get ‘er done.
But … she did not. Instead, The 20-year-old tennis phenom served up 19 catastrophic double faults, made 60 unforced errors, and was unceremoniously bounced from the tournament as a result. A hoard of kids with oversized tennis balls, looking for autographs even pronounced her “toast” by prematurely rushing her side of the court before she could even start her final service game.
But as they say, “out of the mouth of babes.”
How exactly did her defeat unfold?
Coco Gauff had been having issues with her serving in the first and second rounds of the tournament. She was collapsing her form too early and smashing balls halfway up the net, and her forehand struggles have always been locker-room fodder. But her team, led by former ATP world no. 4, Brad Gilbert, was well aware of the challenges and had the 2023 champion out on the practice courts after her first two match wins to try to put a band-aid on them just enough to get through the tournament.
But the band-aid wasn’t enough.
Coco was in her own head from the first ball strike of the match. The top-ranked American ominously started by serving up three double faults. And it didn’t get any better from there. She kept finding herself having to claw her way out of her service games, while Navarro scarcely gave her any openings. Coco was able to hang on for a few games by intermittently finding big serves to save breakpoints, but she inevitably collapsed while serving at 2-3 and went on to lose the first set, 3-6, in 47 minutes.
But Coco has been known to take a “woosah,” steady herself, and come back and win matches after losing the first set. She did it in round two against Elina Svitolina.
Could she pull it off again on such a big night, on the biggest stage in tennis?
She certainly gave it a try.
Navarro was handling her business, cruising to the finish line serving at 4-all, but as it goes in tennis, a bright and shiny finish line can lull you into complacency and lead to slipped leads. Navarro fell into that trap and took her foot off the gas … and Coco seized the opportunity. The defending champion lifted her game just enough to break the Navarro serve and she wrested the second set from her opponent, taking it 6-4. The playing field was leveled at a set a piece … but Coco was still just scraping by at that point. It was gonna take firing on all cylinders to decisively turn the tide.
Coco was undone by her serving
She could never quite get all those cylinders firing, though, particularly that serve.
Even with the crowd’s support and that never-say-die determination she’s known for, she was unable to find a way to put the ball in the service box. She was broken early in the third and deciding set as a result.
And she never recovered.
Turned out those “babes” were right. She was already down that break, and she put the final nail in the match by double-faulting her final service game away to lose, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6. It was a shocking collapse for fans and tennis prognosticators alike, and Coco will likely feel the sting of this one for a while.
When asked about her serving challenges during her press conference after the match, she lamented:
“If I go out on the practices courts, I can hit like 20 serves in a row. So, it’s really a mental hurdle I have to find a way to get over … but I’ll be back.”
Next stop, the Asian swing to try to pick up the pieces of a disappointing season.
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