Coco Gauff was quick to defend Mirra Andreeva after the Russian teenager threw a racket in anger as she unravelled in another epic US Open quarter-final.
After all four quarter-finals in the women’s and men’s events went the full distance on Tuesday, we had a repeat the following day as Elena Rybakina beat Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, before Gauff and Andreeva took centre stage on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
In a match littered with mistakes and alarming dips in form for both players, Andreeva had two match points in the second set tie-break before allowing Gauff to get back into the match with some edgy errors.
Andreeva then saw her game collapse in the deciding set as Gauff sealed a 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 win to the delight of the vocal American fans.
“I just had to reset,” Gauff said. “I came out at the start, not feeling the ball, giving her too many free points.
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“Mirra was playing a great level, but when I went to the restroom after the first set, honestly I was thinking about Frances Tiafoe and how he came back yesterday.
“We all want to do well in front of this crowd. I was trying to leave the court with no regrets, I didn’t know what outcome would come. You guys really helped pull me through.”
Gauff was also asked about an incident in the deciding set when Andreeva threw her racket in anger and nearly bounced up to strike a cameraman.
If the racket had taken a slightly different path, Andreeva may have been disqualified, but Gauff insisted she did not deserve that fate.
“Honestly, I didn’t really see any negative reaction except for one racket throw at the changeover,” stated Gauff.
“I felt like she was calm pretty much most of the match. I don’t know what the camera picked up, but I didn’t see any bad behaviour.
“If anything, at the beginning of the match, I was showing the most frustration.
“It’s normal. In the game, I could feel more tension as she started throwing in more errors. I mean she had one throw, but I may probably have done the same if I was in her position.”
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Former British No 1 Tim Henman admitted the match did not live up to its billing as both players were gripped by tension.
“It was amazing to watch, because you’ve got two brilliant players capable of playing some amazing tennis who through serving issues and errors became so tight and so nervous,” Henman told Sky Sports.
“The ball speed deteriorated, and went down and down. But that’s the beauty of tennis. It’s about keeping the ball on the island and cutting out unforced errors.
“That is going to be a very difficult defeat for Andreeva to get over, having had match points in the second set. But she will learn so much from it. She’ll be incredibly disappointed.”
Gauff will now play soon to be newly crowned world No 1 Rybakina for a place in the US Open final.
