Coco Gauff Advances to US Open Round of 16 with Comeback Victory Over Elina Svitolina; Aryna Sabalenka and Zheng Qinwen Also Progress

NEW YORK: Defending champion Coco Gauff was tested early but righted the ship in time to secure a spot in the last 16 at the US Open with a confidence-boosting 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over plucky Ukrainian Elina Svitolina on Friday.

Third seed Gauff, who conceded just six games across the opening two rounds in New York, faced her toughest test yet against Svitolina but managed to raise her game to a higher level as the match wore on.

Gauff did well to swat aside a pair of early break points and reach 2-2 but Svitolina, the 27th seed, kept pressuring the American and broke at love for a 5-3 lead before serving out a set in which she won the final 11 points to grab control.

Elina Svitolina stretches fully but misses a shot from Coco Gauff.

But Svitolina was unable to maintain her aggressive start and suddenly began playing more defensively while Gauff managed to wake up the rather subdued crowd when she broke for a 4-2 lead before going on to serve out the second set.

Gauff, who arrived at the US Open eager to bounce back from a run of disappointing results, saved her best tennis for the decider, consolidating a break to go ahead 2-0 and establishing a 4-1 double break cushion.

With a chance to serve out the match, Gauff threw Svitolina a lifeline as she squandered a 40-love lead but the American struck back the next game with a break at love to close out the match.

Gauff, who is trying to become the first woman to defend a US Open title since Serena Williams won three straight from 2012-14, will face fellow-American Emma Navarro who beat Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Last year’s runner-up Aryna Sabalenka overcame a shaky display after the latest start to a match at the US Open for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 third-round win over 29th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Sabalenka and Alexandrova walked onto Arthur Ashe Stadium with fans still catching their breath after Alexei Popyrin upset defending champion Novak Djokovic late on Friday night, and the duo began their match only at 12.08 a.m.

The previous latest recorded start at the tournament came in 1987, when Gabriela Sabatini and Beverly Bowes took to the court at midnight and wrapped up in 90 minutes.

Victoria Azarenka saw her 17th attempt at winning the US Open come to a disappointing end as unseeded Wang Yafan downed the veteran 20th seed 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

A polished Wang bested the two-time major winner in lengthy exchanges to extend her deepest ever run at a Grand Slam.

China’s Zheng Qinwen shook off slow starts in the opening two rounds of the US Open and took down unseeded German Jule Niemeier 6-2, 6-1. Agencies

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