The 2024 US Open continued on Wednesday with a strong roster of tennis stars, including Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic among those vying for the title at Flushing Meadows.
The defending women’s and men’s champions both had some uncomfortable moments – literally in Djokovic’s case – but both advanced to the third round without dropping a set.
After a tough first set, Gauff managed to claim victory over Tatjana Maria in straight sets, outlasting the veteran German player to advance to the third round. Although Gauff managed to use her athleticism to her advantage, Maria did her best in the first set, forcing her to circle the court.
Gauff won the first game with relative ease, but quickly found herself trailing 2-1 after a strong effort from Maria. Gauff evened things up with a few strong matches and eventually took a 5-3 lead after winning a long match with several tiebreakers. Maria took advantage of a few unforced errors to make it 5-4 and move within one game of Gauff’s lead. Gauff then remained creative, taking the lead after a tricky shot into the inside corner.
At set point, Gauff’s confidence seemed to waver and she lost the advantage after yet another double fault, her seventh of the set. A long rally at the break point was curiously interrupted by the electronic detection system, although the ball was well inside the line, forcing Gauff and Maria to replay the point. Eventually, Gauff, visibly frustrated with her performance so far, was able to win the first set after Maria sent the ball into the net.
Gauff came out much stronger in the second set, quickly winning the first three games. Maria did her job for the fourth, but Gauff eventually managed to take a 4-0 lead. Gauff, after largely tiring out the 37-year-old Maria, then won the next two games to win the match 6-4, 6-0.
Gauff also struggled with errors, committing nine double faults and more than 20 unforced errors (mostly in the first set) to complicate what should have been an easy victory. In the end, Gauff was able to achieve victory.
She was back on the training ground a few minutes later.
Djokovic had a similar problem in the next match at Arthur Ashe Stadium, facing a tough test from fellow Serbian Laslo Djere in a 6-4, 6-4, 2-0 victory.
Djere appeared poised to scare Djokovic for two hours straight, but kept falling short. Djokovic, whose coaches were working on his torso at one point, saved three break points in the first set before getting a break of his own to steal the first set.
Djere scored a break in the second set, but Djokovic responded with two consecutive breaks to win another set. After leading 2-0 in the third period, Djere withdrew from the match after undergoing knee surgery earlier this year.
In other big matches on the slate, Americans Emma Navarro and Madison Keys both scored straight-set victories to advance to the third round. On the men’s side, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe will face off in an all-American clash in the third round after both winning in the second round.
