Coco Gauff cruises past Madison Keys to reach Round of 16
Coco Gauff celebrates after defeating Madison Keys in straight sets during their U.S. Open third round match at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday. Credit: Errol Anderson
In a U.S. Open tournament that so far has been dominated by honoring the past, Coco Gauff spent a breezy 72 minutes giving everyone an eyeful of the future.
The 18-year-old who grew up idolizing Serena Williams gave a metaphorical nod to the retiring superstar’s domination Friday afternoon, quickly and easily dispatching Madison Keys, 6-2, 6-3, at Arthur Ashe Stadium. She becomes the youngest to reach the Round of 16 in all four majors since Venus Williams did it at age 18 in 1998. It’s also the first time Gauff has reached the fourth round in the U.S. Open; she’ll face China’s Zhang Shuai Sunday
Gauff, seeded 12, has yet to drop a set, and benefitted from an uninspired effort by the 20th-seeded Keys, who committed 22 unforced errors. She also ensured Serena Williams, set to play the 7 p.m. match against Ajla Tomljanović, would start on time, despite a nearly four-hour noon tilt at Ashe, courtesy of Andy Murray and Matteo Berrettini.
The teen stumbled out of the gate, losing her serve in Game 1, but rallied to win the next four games behind her sterling defense, powerful serve and sheer consistency. She went up 3-1 in the second set and broke Keys’ serve in the eighth game for the winner – Keys’ strong forehand failing her on Gauff’s deep return. Gauff last faced Keys in the Adelaide 250 semifinal January and lost.
“I learned a lot from that match - I was like, if I lose, I'm not going to lose the same way,” Gauff said. “I was relying too much on my speed. Because against lower-ranked players, I could get away with just getting the ball back. Playing higher players, power hitters, I'm like, OK, that's not working anymore. I think now I'm using it as a weapon, not so much as a defense mechanism, using it to aggressively get to the balls, to attack the net, instead of using it to run side to side.”
And in a tournament that’s been all Serena, Gauff has also managed the mighty task of siphoning a glimmer of the spotlight. Her 128-mph second-round serve Wednesday went down as the third-fastest women’s serve in U.S. Open history. Just a glimmer, though.
“I hear them,” she said smiling, referring to the cheers at Ashe for Williams, who had just taken the court. “I'll be watching on TV."
The future of tennis, honoring the legacy.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
