Coco Gauff recalls facing Emma Navarro at Wimbledon, where she ‘mentally collapsed on the court’ ahead of their R4 US Open clash
Coco Gauff eased past her first two opponents, Varvara Gracheva and Tatjana Maria, to advance to the third round where she faced challenges from Elina Svitolina . Gauff lost the first set but made her comeback in the next set and did not look back. She won the match 3-6,6-3, 6-3 to set up a fourth-round clash with compatriot Emma Navarro .
Navarro was the one who had stopped Gauff from reaching the quarterfinals at this year’s Wimbledon. In the fourth round, Gauff, who was searching for her first title at SW19, lost the match to Navarro 6-4, 6-3. After her win over Svitolina, Gauff talked about the problems she dealt with during that match against Navarro.
With Emma, I feel like that match at Wimbledon I think I mentally just literally collapsed on the court. I was very frustrated, and she played well. That was, I think to me, the best tennis she played, like that tournament. Coco Gauff said at the press conference
The 20-year-old has met Navarro twice. They first clashed in the semifinals of the 2024 Auckland Open, which Gauff won. Their second encounter was the Wimbledon fourth round. Like Gauff, even Navarro registered her first two wins with ease, against Anna Blinkova and Arantxa Rus, before playing a three-setter against Marta Kostyuk in the third round.
Coco Gauff eyes US Open victory twice in a row
Coco Gauff is the US Open defending champion, as she won last year’s event in three sets over Aryna Sabalenka. If she wins the tournament, she will become the first player since Serena Williams to defend her title at Flushing Meadows. Williams won three consecutive US Opens from 2012 to 2014. Gauff knows that doing the same will be a hard task, so without additional pressure, she wants to keep going.
But I feel like it’s an unnecessary amount of pressure to put that on yourself. When you step on the court, you just have that feeling. It’s like, ‘OK, I know I can perform really well here. I’ve done it before in the past, and I’ll do it again.’ Coco Gauff said
The 2023 US Open was also the American’s first Grand Slam win and since then, she has not been able to lift another major title. Gauff arrived in New York following disappointing campaigns at the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open. She lost her second match in Montreal, followed by her elimination in her opening match in Cincinnati.
