Coco Gauff, champion here three years ago, quickly adjusted to her first day match as she eased into the second week of the US Open 6-3, 6-4 over Spaniard Cristina Busca.
The former champion’s victory made up for third round losses from fellow former Grand Slam protagonists Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova,
Gauff recovered from an early break in the opening set and then took control as her comfort level increased with each game.
Playing in the day is a lot different than playing at night,” Gauff said. “once I was down a break, I knew I had to accelerate my shots,
“She’s a tricky player and it was tough to get a rhythm. I’m happy I fought through even when I was not playing my best/
“I was mainly defensive in the first set since I was not feeling the ball that well. Once I got my rhythm I could swing through.”
The 22-year-old has reached the second week here for a fifth consecutive edition.
“I’m used to the second week, that’s a good sigh. There is a lot of pressure on Americans to do well here, it’s even more special. Today was probably the most stress that I’ve had.”
2025 finalist Anisimova fell 6-2, 7-5 to Austria’s Anastasia Potapova in less than an hour and three-quarters.
The 10th seed also finished runner-up last season at Wimbledon. Potapova beat her third top 10 opponent of the season, finishing the upset on a first match point.
Potapova set a personal best as she won her eighth match of 2026 at a Grand Slam.
2024 Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen turned in the fightback of her life, coming from 0-5 down in the final set and sweeping seven straight games to defeat 2017 finalist Keys 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5.
The Chinese who had to qualify as she makes a comeback from elbow surgery has now won six marches at this edition. Keys snapped a racquet as she saw her lead slipping away against the former world No. 4.
“I told myself to focus on every point, never give up,” the winner said. “I had a bit of luck on my side also.
“This is the fist time in my career I’ve come from 0-6. It was a very dramatic match for me, we both showed strong tennis.
“I was always believing and tried to show no emotion. Brave was the world for this match today. I found the right balance, all I can say is “wow.'”
Zheng last competed here in 2024 after her Paris gold medal and before her elbow problems kicked in. She has been coming back ever since and currently stands 121 in the rankings.
Keys collapsed 48 hours after saving five match points in her second round win, missing on a match point chance while leading 5-2 in the third set,.
“I feel like I obviously got off to a really good lead, and then I just got really scared, like I couldn’t swing.
I don’t know.
“Tennis just feels really hard right now, so I feel like that kind of took over.
“I’m sure everyone could see that I was struggling a little bit, but inside it felt probably even bigger than that.
“Some weeks are easier than others, and this week is obviously one of the harder ones just because you care so much. I’m going to have to make some sort of changes.”
Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva reached the second week with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) defeat of Czech Nikola Bartunkova.
Iga Swiatek, who won the New York title in 2022, fought through as eighth seed for a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) defeat of Maria Bouzkova, coming good on her third match point.
The former world No. 1 stands a perfect 4-0 against the Czech ranked 26th. The seed recovered from 2-4 down in the second set and ran away with the tiebreaker after saving three set points for her opponent in the 12th game.
Swiatek is into the second week of the Open for a sixth consecutive year and has won 13 of her last 14 matches.
.”It was a tough match which got pretty physical, with a lot of long rallies,” the Polish winner said. “I had to attack many times, she was defending so well, getting a lot of balls back.
“The wind did not make it easy, there were a lot of surprising unforced errors. I wanted to be solid and play one more ball in. But for sure it was a tricky win.”
Main photo:- Coco Gauff celebrates victory — by ISF Ltd
