Coco Gauff rallies to reach fourth round at U.S. Open

Once Coco Gauff got going, no one could stop her. 

Certainly not Belgian Elise Mertens, who took the first set against Gauff at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night. 

Gauff rallied in the second set and went on to beat Mertens, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, in the third round of the U.S. Open. 

With the Ashe crowd squarely in her corner, Gauff came back to set up Sunday’s round of 16 battle with Caroline Wozniacki, and kept alive a possible quarterfinal matchup with defending champion Iga Swiatek. 

“I'm just happy,” she said in her on-court interview. “If anything, the three-setters just show everybody else I’m not going down without a fight.”

 Of the matchup with Wozniacki, Gauff said: “A matchup I never thought I would have to play. When she retired I remember I might have said to her in an interview, ‘I wish I would have played her.’ So that wish came true, so I’m really excited. I think that’s it’s going to be an exciting match.”

Gauff, the No. 6 seed, also kept alive her dream of a first Grand Slam title. The 19-year-old American has won 14 of her last 15 matches and two titles since losing in the first round at Wimbledon. 

It was 3-3 in the first when the 27-year-old Mertens broke Gauff to take control of and eventually win the set. 

Gauff’s frustration was evident as she slumped her shoulders after many of her forced and unforced errors. 

Gauff was up 2-1 in the second set when Mertens broke her again as Gauff double-faulted at 15-40.  

But Gauff later broke back and went up 4-3. It was her turn to take control of and eventually win the set. And Gauff never let up. 

The third set was a tour de force for Gauff, who won 24 of 32 points to vanquish Mertens. Gauff has won nine Grand Slam matches after losing the first set.

 With “Friends” like this . . .

 Swiatek showed no favoritism in defeating her best friend Kaja Juvan, 6-0, 6-1, on Louis Armstrong Stadium. 

"I didn’t like the fact that I was kind of winning [against] my best friend,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview. “But I knew that I had to be really focused and not let myself think about that. It was literally like playing against a sister, because we’ve known each other for so long. I don't have many friends, but she’s my best friend." 

How close are they? Swiatek, who is Polish, said she and Juvan, who is Slovenian, used to watch the popular sitcom “Friends” together. 

“When I first watched, my favorite character was Phoebe,” Swiatek said. “Then it was Monica. I'm not sure even now. Yeah, I love the show, and Kaja loves it as well, actually.” 

Was it difficult to beat her friend for the third time in three meetings? 

“I knew that it's going to be a little bit harder for me to focus because she's my best friend,” Swiatek said. “I was actually more focused than usual. I'm happy that I could do that and I was, like, fully professional.” 

Swiatek will face No. 20 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the round of 16 on Sunday. 

Tiafoe advances.

 American Frances Tiafoe, the No. 10 seed, came back from a set down to defeat Adrian Mannarino of France, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (6). Tiafoe will face wild card Rinky Hijikata on Sunday.  

Tiafoe watched the Gauff-Mertens match from a box with Justin Bieber and Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler. 

No. 9 Taylor Fritz blitzed Jakub Mensik, with the American winning 6-1, 6-2, 6-0.  

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.