Coco Gauff showed grit and class as she defeated Karolina Muchova in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 in an almost two-hour battle of reach her first US Open final.
The 19-year-old has been solid form at Flushing Meadows, getting the better of the likes of 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
Tenth seed Muchova however proved to be Gauff’s biggest test yet as the Czech fought her way back from two breaks down and 5-1 down in the first set to break Gauff back in the seventh and ninth game to cut the deficit to 5-4 . Gauff was however ruthless in the 10th game by breaking her opponent’s serve without dropping any points.
The second set was an even fiercer battle with both players holding serve until the eighth game when Gauff broke at 5-3. She was however denied the opportunity to hold match point as Muchova broke back.
The 12th game was the highlight of the entire match as both Gauff and Muchova played some unbelievable tennis on the Czech’s serve, including an unbelievable 40-shot rally that earned Gauff match point. After multiple back and fourths, the American finally broke Muchova with her sixth match point.
SATURDAY IS SET. pic.twitter.com/I2cZBvJ1Ma
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 8, 2023
Gauff has now progressed to her second Grand Slam final where she will meet new world number one Aryna Sabalenka who defeated American Madison Keys 0-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (10-5) in the other semi-final.
In the women’s wheelchair doubles semi-final, the pair of South Africa’s Kgothatso Montjane and Japan’s Yui Kamiji defeated America’s Dana Mathewson and Japan’s Manami Tanaka 6-1, 6-4.
It marks 37-year-old Montjane’s third Grand Slam doubles final appearance in 2023 after the French Open which she won with Kamiji and Wimbledon which they lost to the Dutch duo of Diede de Groot and Jiske Griffioen.
It is also her third US Open women’s wheelchair doubles final appearance after 2019 and 2022 and sixth overall major final appearance.
