US Open | Coco Gauff advances to third round in title defense

(New York) Coco Gauff overcame service blunders to win a ninth straight match at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday, reaching the third round with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over 99-ranked Tatjana Maria.^e to the world.

Seeded third, Gauff earned her first major title at this tournament in 2023.

A 20-year-old from Florida, Gauff had all sorts of trouble in the first round under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium on a hot and humid night.

A 37-year-old German who reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon two years ago, Maria is a slick shot on almost every shot.

“I like Tatjana, but it’s very tiring to play against her,” Gauff said. “With the brushed balls, you have to generate all the power yourself. It doesn’t always show, but it can be more physically demanding.”

Gauff double-faulted seven times in the first set. She hit fewer than half of her first serves.

She faced five break points, but saved four of them.

“I wasn’t serving well at all,” Gauff said. “I was lucky I didn’t get broken more often.”

At the net, she only scored nine points in 17 climbs.

She also committed twice as many unforced errors as winning shots (20 and 10).

As Gauff served in the first set, she double faulted twice and faced two break points, which would have allowed Maria to bring the score to 5-5.

Maria, however, missed a forehand at her first opportunity.

Gauff followed up with a passing shot and then secured the first set.

The second set was all to the American’s advantage. Gauff hit 15 winners and only five unforced errors, in addition to scoring the point 10 out of 11 times at the net.

Maria is the mother of three and 10-year-old girls, who were among the crowd.

In the third round, Gauff will face Elina Svitolina, who defeated Anhelina Kalinina, 6-1 and 6-2.

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka won 6-3, 6-1 over Lucia Bronzetti of Italy.

The Belarusian had five aces and 24 winners, ahead of the 76^e racket in the world.

Sabalenka triumphed at the Australian Open in January.

Last year in New York, she lost in the final round to Gauff, in three sets.

Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova was upset 6-4, 7-5 by Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

Krejcikova, seeded eighth, won her second Grand Slam title earlier this summer.

However, she admitted last week that she does not know where her level of play is, having decided to take a break following the Olympic tournament.

Obviously, it wasn’t ready.

Ruse has been honing his game on cement through qualifying, with a view to Flushing Meadows.

She was able to raise her performance during the crucial moments of the match.

She notably erased a 5-3 deficit in the second set by winning the next four games, en route to victory.

“Barbora is a great player, she has won so many matches in the last two years. It’s a dream come true for me,” admitted Ruse, 26.

She will be playing in the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career.

Its next rival will be the 26^e top seed Paula Badosa, who beat American Taylor Townsend 6-3, 7-5.

Caroline Garcia denounces hate messages from punters

French tennis player Caroline Garcia, eliminated in the first round of the US Open, posted several hate messages on Wednesday, among the “hundreds” she receives, denouncing the daily online toxicity of sports bettors disappointed by her results.

“I hope your mother dies”, “you should think about suicide”, “you’re just shit”, are messages received by Caroline Garcia (30^e world) after defeats in recent times, published by the latter on its social networks.

“There are hundreds of them,” laments the 30-year-old Frenchwoman.

“It worries me for the young players who are coming in and have to deal with this kind of thing,” she says of this phenomenon which is now well-known in the world of sport, and particularly in tennis.

“It affects us, we are human. Sometimes when we receive these messages, we are already emotionally destroyed after a difficult defeat. Many people have already raised this problem, but nothing has been done.”

“Social media doesn’t stop them despite the advanced state of artificial intelligence. Tournaments continue to partner with sports betting companies that continue to draw people into gambling addiction. […] “We continue to promote these companies that destroy the lives of certain people,” the Frenchwoman continues to protest.

Badosa reached the third round in New York for the first time in his career.

“I know it’s only the third round, but I was really looking forward to getting there here in New York,” said the Spaniard, who was born in the Big Apple.

Among the players who will face each other in the third round are the 14^e seed Madison Keys and the 33^eElise Mertens.

Keys beat Maya Joint 6-4, 6-0, while Mertens defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-2.