It’s been an emotional week at the U.S. Open for Coco Gauff. 

But Saturday’s victory was calm. Collected. 

Complete. 

Gauff rolled to a 6-3, 6-1 third-round rout of No. 28 Magdalena Frech that was straightforward and stress-free. Her serve didn’t break down. And neither did she. 

Just two days after Gauff had double-faulted seven times and lost four of her six service games in the first set against Donna Vekic — openly crying on court amid her struggles — the world No. 3 American had just four double-faults Saturday, took seven of her eight service games and was in command of both her serves and her nerves. 

Coco Gauff (USA) returns a ball to Magdalena Frech (POL) in the third round in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

And ultimately the match. 

“Yeah, I just realized that I don’t want that moment to happen again on court for sure,” said Gauff, just 21. “I’m not someone who … I don’t want to show weakness in moments. But after the match, I was thinking maybe it’s not a weakness. It’s just showing the things that happen in my head, and not keeping it inside to the point where I can’t play. 

“But I felt with the new perspective, seeing all the support I’ve gotten since that moment — just seeing how proud people are of me regardless of how I do here — [Saturday] I felt a lot lighter going on court, and I hope to continue feeling that light weight for the rest of the time here.” 

Gauff set up a highly anticipated fourth-round date vs. Naomi Osaka, and makes her 16th trip to the Round of 16 in a major. That’s the second most for an American woman before her 22nd birthday in the Open era, behind only Venus Williams. 

Coco Gauff (USA) celebrates her win against Magdalena Frech (POL) in the third round in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

And she got here while fixing a broken serve on the fly — improvements that have been shockingly fast. 

Gauff’s title defense at last year’s U.S. Open was undone by 19 double-faults in a fourth-round loss. She came back this year having committed a WTA-worst 320 this year, with 23 in a victory at Montreal and 14 more in the ensuing match. 

Desperate times called for a desperate move, and Gauff brought in biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan, who’d fixed Aryna Sabalenka’s broken serve. For Gauff the progress has been both immediate and steady. 

After 10 double-faults in a first-round win over Ajla Tomljanovic, she had eight in the victory against Vekic. Saturday marked a quantum leap forward, with just four. Her percentage of first serves in has jumped from 61 to 69 to 76 percent. 

“I knew this process would be up and down, so [Saturday] was definitely a positive. I hope it goes up from here,” Gauff said. “I’m more proud of the mental effort of things and trying to remember the things we worked on in practice. [It] was a step in the right direction. I’d love to continue to build and improve on that.” 

Coco Gauff (USA) celebrates her win against Magdalena Frech (POL) in the third round in Arthur Ashe Stadium Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

Gauff faces Osaka six years after their famous first meeting here in 2019, when a tearful 15-year-old Gauff was consoled on-court by Osaka. It was the start of a friendship, a pregnant Osaka attending Gauff’s U.S. Open title run in 2023 and Gauff helping an injured Osaka off the court last year in Beijing. 

“Yeah, I remember it was a tough moment for me,” Gauff recalled. 

“Naomi and I, we aren’t super close, but we’re definitely friendly with each other. I support her from afar in all the things she’s done on and off the court … I’m imagining we’d probably be on Ashe and at night, I’m just assuming. It would be a cool déjà vu type of situation, but hopefully it will be a different result.” 

Coco Gauff (USA) celebrates her win against Magdalena Frech (POL) in the third round in Arthur Ashe Stadium on day 7 at the 2025 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Corey Sipkin

Gauff has won their past two meetings, and felt facing a four-time Grand Slam champ like Osaka removes the pressure of being the favorite. 

“It’s an advantage. For me mentally to play a caliber opponent as her … when you have matchups where you’re so heavily favored it puts more pressure,” Gauff said. “She’s having a great season and always a tough player and a threat, especially on hard court, so that match odds-wise can really go either way. For me that almost takes the pressure off.”