31 August 2023 , 00:17
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It was an extremely successful day at the US Open for No. 6 seed Coco Gauff, but she was left with her head in her hands after an embarrassing moment.
The 19-year-old is one of the stars of the future, and American hopes are resting on Gauff to be the long-term successor to the Williams sisters. Gauff sealed her place in the women's singles third round earlier in the day after beating 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva in straight sets, and then played her first-round doubles match alongside partner Jessica Pegula.
Gauff and Pegula won the all-American clash against Elizabeth Mandlik and Quinn Gleason, but there was confusion over when the match was over. Gauff and Pegula raced through the first set and won 6-2, and were leading 4-1 in the second as they closed in on victory.
The 19-year-old hit a powerful game-winner to break Mandlik and Gleason, meaning that they would be serving for the match, but Gauff hadn't kept track of the current score. Gauff went to hug Pegula and celebrate but quickly realised when her partner didn't cooperate that the match wasn't over.
Gauff then began laughing and covered her mouth with embarrassment, and the crowd also broke into laughter as the entire arena realised what had just happened. To save Gauff's embarrassment, they won their service game to finish the match — and then could finally celebrate.
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It was a long day for Gauff, playing two matches and four sets total in intense New York heat. But she was in good spirits after the match when being asked about her mistake by the on-court reporter.
"Oh, I thought the match was over," Gauff said when explaining the bizarre moment. "I hit a great return and I went for a hug and Jess was like going away from me. I was like, ‘Damn. Like what did I do?'
"I realised that the match wasn't over. There was no game, set, match so that was me, my mess up! We were playing so good so I thought it was over."
It was a welcome change for Gauff, as her first day of play at the US Open had a very different feel to it. Gauff beat Laura Siegemund in a three-set thriller to win her first-round singles match, and her opponent frustrated the American and the crowd.
Siegemund was taking large breaks wherever possible, and after Gauff complained the crowd began to boo. It was a much happier day of action for Gauff on Wednesday, and she's becoming increasingly popular.