The 2024 US Open continued on Wednesday with a strong list of tennis stars, including Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic among those battling for the title at Flushing Meadows.
After a tough first set, US Open defending champion Gauff managed to prevail over Tatjana Maria in three sets, overcoming the veteran German to advance to the third round. Although Gauff was able to use her athleticism to her advantage, Maria made her work for her in the first set, forcing her to do everything on the court.
Gauff won the first game with relative ease, but quickly found herself trailing 2-1 after a strong effort from Maria. Gauff equalized with a few good games and eventually took a 5-3 lead after winning a long game with several tiebreak games. Maria took advantage of a few unforced errors to make it 5-4 and get within a game of Gauff’s lead. Gauff then got creative, taking the lead after a tricky drop shot to the inside corner.
On set point, Gauff’s confidence seemed to waver and she lost the lead after another double fault, her seventh of the set. A long rally on break point was strangely interrupted by the electronic detection system, despite the ball being well inside the line, forcing Gauff and Maria to replay the point. Eventually, Gauff, visibly frustrated with her performance so far, was able to take the first set after Maria sent the ball into the net.
Gauff came back much stronger in the second set, quickly winning the first three games. Maria did her job for the fourth game of the set, but Gauff was eventually able to take a 4-0 lead. Gauff, after largely wearing down the 37-year-old Maria, then won the next two games to take the match 6-4, 6-0.
Gauff also had to deal with a lot of errors, committing nine double faults and more than 20 unforced errors (mostly in the first set) which complicated what should have been an easy victory. In the end, Gauff was nevertheless able to take the victory.
The other headline event of the evening will see the other reigning US Open champion, Novak Djokovic, take on his compatriot Laslo Djere.
In other big matches on the calendar, Americans Emma Navarro and Madison Keys both earned straight-set victories to advance to the third round. On the men’s side, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe will face off in an all-American third-round match after both winning in the second round.