{"id":91877,"date":"2025-08-29T04:40:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T04:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=91877"},"modified":"2025-08-29T04:40:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T04:40:00","slug":"tearful-gauff-thanks-biles-after-tough-us-open-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=91877","title":{"rendered":"Tearful Gauff thanks Biles after tough US Open win"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A tearful Coco Gauff thanked superstar gymnast Simone Biles for bringing a \u201cbit of calm\u201d as she found a way to beat Croatia\u2019s Donna Vekic in the US Open second round.<\/p>\n

Gauff, 21, was reduced to tears by more double faults before settling to win 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 on a supportive Arthur Ashe Stadium.<\/p>\n

Seven-time Olympic gold medallist Biles was among the New York crowd as third seed Gauff toiled in a first set which was excruciating to watch at times.<\/p>\n

On seeing Biles providing support in the stands, Gauff said, \u201cShe helped me pull it out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought if she can go on a six-inch beam with all the pressures in the world, then I can hit the ball into this court.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brought me a little bit of calm. She is an inspiration to me, and her presence helped me win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Days before her home Grand Slam, Gauff made a bold move to reshuffle her team in a bid to stem the flow of double faults.<\/p>\n

Gauff made what she described as a \u201csudden decision\u201d after hitting 16 double faults in her Cincinnati exit against Italy\u2019s Jasmine Paolini.<\/p>\n

Grip specialist Matt Daly paid the price as the American player brought in biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan, who helped rival Aryna Sabalenka overcome her serving yips.<\/p>\n

The drastic measure has brought increased scrutiny at what is already a high-pressure tournament for the 2023 champion.<\/p>\n

Gauff started sobbing underneath a towel at the changeover after a double fault contributed to Vekic breaking back for 4-4.<\/p>\n

It was one of eight she hit in the first set and, while she eventually came through a messy opener featuring eight breaks of serve, Gauff felt the need to compose herself in a bathroom break before the second.<\/p>\n

Overcoming adversity is one of Gauff\u2019s greatest strengths and she limited the double faults to wrap up a straight-set victory.<\/p>\n

Gauff, who played cleanly off the ground, broke down again during her on-court interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never felt like that on the court before,\u201d she told ESPN.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith learning a new thing, you don\u2019t feel comfortable and I think it affects everything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cI played really well, the serving can be improved, but it was better than my last match.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of positives to take and I need to remember that side of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gauff moves on to play Polish 28th seed Magdalena Frech in the last 32.<\/p>\n

Swiatek toils in second-round win over Lamens<\/h2>\n

Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek admitted she \u201cmade some mistakes\u201d in a laboured three-set victory over world number 66 Suzan Lamens to reach the US Open third round.<\/p>\n

Second seed Swiatek raced through the first set against her Dutch opponent and looked on course for the sort of dominant early-round win that has become her trademark.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old was twice a break of serve up in the second set, but her frustration grew as her level dipped significantly, giving Lamens a route back into the contest.<\/p>\n

The Pole moved a double break clear in the decider and eventually wrapped up a 6-1 4-6 6-4 victory in two hours and six minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.<\/p>\n

Swiatek will play 29th seed Anna Kalinskaya in round three after the Russian beat Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-1 7-5.<\/p>\n

Speaking on court after the match, six-time major champion Swiatek said: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t an easy match and I made some mistakes. I\u2019m happy that at the end I could be more proactive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like it depended on me and whether I was going to make mistakes or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not easy, but the third set is a reset. You\u2019ve got to start from the beginning and I knew I could play a little more precisely, so I just tried to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iga Swiatek won the US Open title in 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Osaka battles \u2018stress\u2019 in strong performance<\/h2>\n

Two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka admitted to being \u201cstressed the entire time\u201d as she defeated Hailey Baptiste 6-3 6-1.<\/p>\n

A break apiece early in the first set teed up an intriguing contest, but Osaka\u2019s quality and Baptiste\u2019s struggles on serve \u2013 the American committed nine double faults and won just 19% of her second serves \u2013 proved the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI played her (Baptiste) last in Miami and it was probably the most difficult match of the year,\u201d recalled Osaka, who won a three-set battle between the pair in March at the Miami Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was trying to focus on not giving her any free points.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old has struggled for consistency and fitness since returning from maternity leave last year, but continued her good form after reaching the final of the Canadian Open earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to be moving better and I feel really healthy,\u201d added Japan\u2019s Osaka, who is looking to win a major for the first time since the 2021 Australian Open.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"TearfulA tearful Coco Gauff thanked superstar gymnast Simone Biles for bringing a “bit of calm” as she found a way to beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the US Open second round.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5584,10,9,7540,1957,3964],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coco-gauff","category-politics","category-popular","category-simone-biles","category-tennis","category-us-open"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91877\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}