Coco Gauff serves up shocking statistic as she is dumped out of the US Open
Coco Gauff’s US Open defence came to a shuddering end as she was beaten by fellow American Emma Navarro 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, yet that scoreline only tells a fraction of the story of what was a gripping fourth round clash.
Gauff was aiming to become the first woman to retain her crown at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 2014, but a disastrous serving performance ended her hopes of creating history on home soil.
The 2023 queen of Flush Meadows was not helped by her 19 double faults and fired 60 unforced errors, with those service statistics making it almost impossible for her to win.
Gauff’s fighting spirit kept her in the match when it seemed she may lose in straight sets, with Navarro faltering when she approached the winning line in the second set, but there was no way back for Gauff in the decider as her serve continued to let her down.
“It’s pretty insane. I lost in the first round the last two years and now to be making the quarter-finals is pretty insane,” said Navarro.
“This is the city I was born in and it feels so special to be playing here.
“Coco is an amazing player. I have a ton of respect for her and I know she’s going to come back here and win this thing again.”
Navarro will now play Paula Badosa in the last eight, with the reflections of Gauff’s performance certain to rumble on after what was an uncomfortable performance to watch as she struggled so badly on her serve.
Clearly troubled by the serve that continued to let her down, former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli suggested Gauff has a big technical flaw on her service motion that needs to be solved.
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“She has a problem on her serve as the toss is too low,” Bartoli told Sky Sports.
“That was the big issue in this match and there is also a problem with her forehand.
“She keeps on missing a lot of forehands, and it’s when the body weight is not transferring through the shot.
“Emma is just trying to go down the centre because she knows if she gets Coco to run she can use her legs to generate power. If she jammed her central then she’d get a lot more free points and errors.
“Coco has been having these errors since Roland Garros against Swiaek. They are difficult things to fix in a season, you need to go back to the drawing board, sit down with your coach and watch a ton of videos of yourself. Trust me, it’s not pleasant to watch yourself.
“It’s difficult to win a match with 19 double faults, but also Navarro was causing that by coming forward and really looking to attack.
“She was pushing Coco so far behind the baseline that she could only retreat, that’s not what you want, you want to be in the driving seat.
“Her serve direction she was just constantly targeting Coco’s forehand.”
Bartoli suggested Gauff will need to work hard in the off-season to try and solve her serving and forehand issues as she added: “You need a full off-season to fix this and it will not be easy.
“I think the work will have to be done at the end of 2024. If she can get it right she will be back again winning Grand Slams.
“Coco winning everything last summer sort of hid it a bit. When things are starting to click you keep on going, you postpone it.
“It’s a problem you have as a dynamic between a player and a coach, you need to take that perspective.
“It’s a lot of pressure, you just feel that changing is difficult because you’ve been so used to that for so many years. It’s entering unknown territory.”
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