It\u2019s been an emotional week at the U.S. Open for Coco Gauff.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Saturday\u2019s victory was calm. Collected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019t break down. And neither did she.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 openly crying on court amid her struggles \u2014 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
And ultimately the match.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I just realized that I don\u2019t want that moment to happen again on court for sure,\u201d said Gauff, just 21. \u201cI\u2019m not someone who \u2026 I don\u2019t want to show weakness in moments. But after the match, I was thinking maybe it\u2019s not a weakness. It\u2019s just showing the things that happen in my head, and not keeping it inside to the point where I can\u2019t play.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I felt with the new perspective, seeing all the support I\u2019ve gotten since that moment \u2014 just seeing how proud people are of me regardless of how I do here \u2014 [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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019s the second most for an American woman before her 22nd birthday in the Open era, behind only Venus Williams.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coco Gauff (USA) celebrates her win against Magdalena Frech (POL) in the third round in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n
And she got here while fixing a broken serve on the fly \u2014 improvements that have been shockingly fast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gauff\u2019s title defense at last year\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Desperate times called for a desperate move, and Gauff brought in biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan, who\u2019d fixed Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s broken serve. For Gauff the progress has been both immediate and steady.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew this process would be up and down, so [Saturday] was definitely a positive. I hope it goes up from here,\u201d Gauff said. \u201cI\u2019m 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\u2019d love to continue to build and improve on that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coco Gauff (USA) celebrates her win against Magdalena Frech (POL) in the third round in Arthur Ashe Stadium Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n