NEW YORK — Coco Gauff knew becoming a back-to-back U.S. Open champion would be tough.
She was likely aware that no woman had repeated at the tournament since Serena Williams won her third straight title a decade ago. And Gauff knew she hadn't come into the event with as much momentum as she did in 2023.
So after her first-round win on Monday, Gauff sounded like she was almost preparing for the possibility of not making it and trying to take some pressure off her shoulders.
“Someone commented on my TikTok and said, 'You've won at life, literally and figuratively, and there's no point in putting pressure on yourself on a victory lap,'” Gauff said. “I'm just treating this tournament that way. If you defend something, that means you won something. If you did it, that means you can do it again.
“So whether I do it again this year or not, I'm going to do it again, whether it's 2024 or not, I'm going to do it again.”
On Sunday, when she played Emma Navarro in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium, Gauff saw her hopes of repeating the title in the fourth round dashed. The 20-year-old lost the first set and, although she managed to force the decider, she simply could not overcome her poor serve. She committed 19 double faults and was unable to pull off another trademark comeback. After two hours and 12 minutes, she was eliminated after a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 defeat.
“Mentally I gave it my all and emotionally I gave it my all,” Gauff said after the match with audible disappointment in her voice. “Of course, there were things execution-wise… obviously I wish I could have served better. I think if I had, it would have been a different story for me in the match… So emotionally I don't regret it, but obviously I wish I could have executed things better.”
Gauff is by no means the only favorite facing an early defeat at the US Open this year. Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion and 2022 victor in New York, was defeated in straight sets in the second round. Novak Djokovic, the defending men’s champion, was eliminated the following night in the round of 32. Both cited a lack of energy after the intense and grueling summer schedule, which included multiple surface changes and the Olympics.
“I spent a lot of energy to win gold and I came to New York not feeling fresh mentally and physically,” Djokovic said. “But as it is [the] “At the US Open, I tried and did my best. I didn't have any physical problems. I just felt drained of energy and that showed in the way I played.”
Gauff, who was given the honor of carrying the American flag during the opening ceremony in Paris alongside LeBron James, played singles, doubles and mixed doubles at the Games. While it was an experience to remember, it marked a radically different entry onto the hard court ahead of the U.S. Open than she had in 2023.
Last season, Gauff was at her best all summer long, winning titles in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati. This year, she came into the Canadian Open just days after being eliminated at the Olympics, went 1-2 in her two events and lost in the first round of her defense bid in Cincinnati.
But when asked if he was feeling mental or physical fatigue after the intense demands of the summer, he refused to blame Sunday's result.
“It's a tough one because I felt ready, physically and mentally, but I think in Toronto and Cincinnati it was a little mentally draining to have to change surfaces in those tournaments,” Gauff said. “It's tough when you're trying to find your game. You're just used to a certain type of year.”
“But when we get into this [tournament]”I didn't feel any tiredness. I was actually really excited to play. Yeah, I didn't feel anything. I was just ready to get on the court. Even today I felt ready to get on the court. I was excited.”
Gauff had previously said that the quick start in Cincinnati allowed her to get some good practice sessions in before the tournament, and she was dominant in her first-round win over Varvara Gracheva, allowing her opponent to win just two games in the match. But Gauff struggled early on with her serve in her second-round match against Tatjana Maria in the scorching heat on Wednesday night. Although she eventually won the match, she had seven double faults in the first set, and it was a sign of what was to come.
Gauff lost the last 11 points of the first set against former world No. 3 Elina Svitolina in the third round before turning things around. She raised her level (improving her serve and the rest of her game) in the second and third sets and came away with the win. She spent time on the practice courts working on her serve after her second- and third-round matches.
But she just couldn't find a way to win on Sunday. Navarro had beaten Gauff in the fourth round of Wimbledon 6-3, 6-3 in July, and proved that result was no fluke.
Gauff, who earned her best major result of the year with a semifinal showing at the Australian Open, said she was unsure what the rest of her season would look like but was looking forward to making time for a training block — her first since before the clay-court season began. She said she would consider working with a mechanics coach and getting other opinions in hopes of resolving her serve issues in the future.
“It's also kind of a mental hurdle that I have to overcome,” he said. “But yeah, I definitely want to consider other things because I don't want to lose any more matches like this.”
Now, in Gauff’s place, Navarro is the only American representative left in the bottom half of the draw. (Jessica Pegula, who is on the other side of the draw, is the only American woman still in contention and will play her fourth-round match against Diana Shnaider on Monday.)
It’s been a breakthrough season for Navarro, 23, who began the year ranked No. 38 and is now tipped to crack the top 10 for the first time after Sunday’s win. She has had career-best performances at all four Grand Slams this year, including a fourth-round run at the French Open and her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon earlier this summer.
Navarro, the 2021 NCAA singles champion in Virginia, won her first WTA title in Hobart in January and made her first Olympic team in Paris. During her rise, she has impressed many in tennis, including Williams, the 23-time major champion, who was in attendance at Sunday’s match.
1:10
Serena Williams praises Coco Gauff's mental strength
Serena Williams is interviewed from the stands at the US Open and discusses the strengths of Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro.
“I like the variety in Emma's game,” Williams said during the telecast. “I was never a variety player, so when I see someone like her who slices the ball but also has a lot of spin on her forehand, I really admire that because it's something I never did. She can get in, she has really good hands and she does everything really well. She sees the court, she has a great tennis IQ and I love that.”
Navarro will face a resurgent Paula Badosa on Tuesday, with both looking to reach the first major semifinal of their careers. Badosa, who has been sidelined for much of the 2023 season with a back injury, defeated Navarro in their only previous meeting, but knew doing so again would be a challenge.
“He's very, very talented,” Badosa said Sunday. “We had a very big battle in Rome as well.” [in May]”It was clay. It's different. But she's playing very well. She's had a very good summer and played some good matches. I also expect it to be a tough match. Maybe I'll have to be more aggressive than her and we'll see how it goes on Tuesday.”
Navarro later called Badosa a “great player” and praised her serve and groundstrokes. She told reporters she hoped her experience at Ashe on Sunday would help her when the stakes were even higher. Asked during her news conference about when she first started to believe she had a chance to win a Grand Slam, Navarro said she still couldn’t quite believe she was talking about that possibility now and called it “pretty crazy.”
But on court, moments after the match, Navarro seemed more confident about someone else's chances of winning a US Open title in the future: Gauff.
In response to a question about reaching the quarterfinals, Navarro first echoed Gauff's sentiments about her future in the tournament.
“Coco is an incredible player and I have a lot of respect for her,” Navarro said on court after the match. “I know she will come back here and win this title again some year.”
