Coco Gauff Saves Match Points to Reach US Open Semifinals
Coco Gauff walked to the brink in New York, stared down defeat, and then tore the match away.
The defending US Open champion survived a ferocious challenge from Mirra Andreeva, saving two match points before grinding out a 2–6, 7–6 (9–7), 6–2 victory to return to the semifinals.
Andreeva’s blitz start
For almost a set, it looked like a rout.
Andreeva stormed out, winning the first four games and dictating every rally. Gauff, tight and erratic, never saw a single break point in the opener. The numbers told the story: the Russian leaked just five unforced errors; the American sprayed 14.
Gauff’s forehand misfired, her timing off, her confidence clearly shaken. Andreeva, the fifth seed, punished short balls and stepped inside the baseline, refusing to give Gauff any rhythm. The 6–2 first set felt ruthless, almost casual.
A 39-shot turning point
The second set turned into a tug of war.
Both players broke serve twice, trading momentum in streaks rather than in points. Gauff finally began to land first serves, using her athleticism to extend rallies and drag Andreeva into longer exchanges. The Russian still hit through the court, but Gauff stopped backing away.
The set marched inevitably to a tiebreak. That was where the match tightened into a thriller.
Gauff found herself staring at two match points, the title defence hanging by a thread. She refused to blink. On the biggest points, she played her boldest tennis, attacking with her backhand and trusting her legs to carry her through the lung-busting rallies.
Then came the rally that changed everything.
Thirty-nine shots. Both players pinned to the baseline, trading heavy, nervy blows. Gauff finally carved out space and ripped an accurate backhand to take the point. The stadium roared; Andreeva sagged. Gauff rode that surge, edged the breaker 9–7, and yanked the contest back onto her terms.
Champion’s response in the decider
Once she escaped, she accelerated.
In the deciding set, Gauff broke in the third game as Andreeva’s precision began to waver. The Russian’s earlier clarity gave way to frustration; her depth shortened, her errors crept up. Gauff, now playing with the freedom of a survivor, pounced.
She broke to love in the seventh game, a ruthless stretch that underlined the shift in authority. Serving for the match, Gauff stepped in and sealed it with a forehand, the same shot that had betrayed her early now delivering the final blow.
From 2–6 and two match points down to a 6–2 decider, the arc looked exactly like what you expect from a reigning champion who refuses to give up her crown.
Rybakina awaits
Next comes a very different test.
In the semifinals, Gauff will face second seed Elena Rybakina, one of the cleanest ball-strikers and most dangerous servers in the women’s game. Power versus defence. First-strike aggression against one of the tour’s elite athletes.
Gauff has already shown she can survive a crisis in New York. The question now is whether she can impose herself from the start—before someone like Rybakina gives her no chance to come back.
