NEW YORK — Coco Gauff leapt to Mirra Andreeva's defence after a racket-throwing incident and rallied for a 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 win on Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the US Open semifinals. The quarterfinal followed Elena Rybakina's 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Zheng Qinwen, with both matches going the distance after all four quarterfinals in the women's and men's events went the full distance on Tuesday.
In a match littered with mistakes and sharp dips in form, Andreeva held two match points in the second-set tie-break before errors allowed Gauff back in. Andreeva's game then collapsed in the deciding set. At a changeover in the decider, she threw her racket in anger and it nearly bounced up to strike a cameraman, an incident that on a slightly different path could have resulted in disqualification.
Gauff said she had to reset after a poor start. "I just had to reset," Gauff said. "I came out at the start, not feeling the ball, giving her too many free points." She added, "Mirra was playing a great level, but when I went to the restroom after the first set, honestly I was thinking about Frances Tiafoe and how he came back yesterday," and "We all want to do well in front of this crowd. I was trying to leave the court with no regrets, I didn't know what outcome would come. You guys really helped pull me through." On the racket throw, Gauff said, "Honestly, I didn't really see any negative reaction except for one racket throw at the changeover," and "I felt like she was calm pretty much most of the match. I don't know what the camera picked up, but I didn't see any bad behaviour." She added, "If anything, at the beginning of the match, I was showing the most frustration," and "It's normal. In the game, I could feel more tension as she started throwing in more errors. I mean she had one throw, but I may probably have done the same if I was in her position."
Former British No. 1 Tim Henman told Sky Sports the tension defined the contest. "It was amazing to watch, because you've got two brilliant players capable of playing some amazing tennis who through serving issues and errors became so tight and so nervous," Henman told Sky Sports. He added, "The ball speed deteriorated, and went down and down. But that's the beauty of tennis. It's about keeping the ball on the island and cutting out unforced errors," and "That is going to be a very difficult defeat for Andreeva to get over, having had match points in the second set. But she will learn so much from it. She'll be incredibly disappointed."
Gauff will now play soon-to-be newly crowned world No. 1 Rybakina for a place in the US Open final, with the American advancing after surviving match points and a tense decider in front of vocal home support.