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Watch: Coco Gauff wins insane 40-shot rally against Karolina Muchova at US Open
Coco Gauff will face Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open final.
American teenager Coco Gauff reached her maiden US Open final after beating Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-5 at the Flushing Meadows. The semi-final fixture between Gauff and Muchova was halted by 50 minutes due to an intervention by four environmental activists at the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands. Gauff, playing in front of her home fans, put up a dominating display to get the better of this year's French Open runner-up. With Gauff winning the first set, her Czech opponent tried desperately to script a comeback in the second by saving four match points.
The US Open crowd witnessed a thrilling rally, comprising 40 shots, in the second set of the women’s singles semi-finals encounter. Despite not being able to make full use of the match points, Gauff survived the nail-biting 40-shot rally on the penultimate point with a forehand. Having won the wild rally, Gauff earned her sixth match point.
“I knew I had the legs and the lungs to outlast her in the rally; it was whether I had the mentality and patience to do it. After 10 or 15 shots in, I was, like, ‘Well, this is going to change the match,” sixth-seeded Gauff was quoted as saying by news agency AP.
The next point turned out to be the deciding one after Karolina Muchova failed to connect a backhand. Muchova was quite disappointed with her very own performance. "I was not feeling it from the start until the end. I'm pretty sad about the outcome, that I didn't put the best out of me on the court. Yeah, just kind of sad about the performance,” the 10th seed said, as per news agency Reuters.
Coco Gauff became the first American teenager to qualify for the summit clash at the Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams. Gauff is also the youngest American to reach the US Open title-decider since Williams in 1999.
The win against Muchova marked Gauff’s 11th victory in a row and the 17th in her last 18 fixtures. Gauff’s magnificent winning streak includes two titles as well. Gauff will now face second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the US Open. Sabalenka defeated 2017 US Open runner-up Madison Keys 0-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (10-5) in a breath-taking US Open semifinal which came to an end at around 1 am (local time).
For Belarusian Sabalenka, the year 2023 is proving to be quite a memorable one. She has become just the 13th woman in the Open Era to feature in the semifinals at all four Grand Slams in one particular season. Sabalenka has already won the Australian Open this year. The 25-year-old will now be aiming to cap off the season on a stellar note by claiming the US Open title.
