Coco Gauff’s bid for a second US Open title ended on Thursday after she was beaten 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals. The young American started brightly, but as Rybakina’s game lifted, Gauff struggled to keep her level and was outlasted in the key moments.
Gauff can take positives
Despite defeat, Gauff believes that the changes she has made to her game are working as she enjoyed a very strong summer of tennis.
“I almost feel like I’ve played all of my matches really on my terms”, she commented. “I’m just really looking forward to being consistent enough to just continue to put in that work for another year, two years and to be able to see where I’m at when I’m twenty-four, twenty-five and have the game continue to take me to those different peaks”.
She enjoyed success, picking up the title in Cincinnati while making the last four of both Wimbledon and Toronto, and extending that run with her latest performance at Flushing Meadows.
The loss, still painful as she admitted, “I want to be a consistent player- I want to set myself up with as many chances to hold a trophy as possible. But, yeah, it hurts”, as now the victory means Rybakina is due to rise to new world number 1 on Monday, replacing Aryna Sabalenka.
