Now it’s The Coco Show on Tuesday night at the U.S. Open.
Coco Gauff said she gets pumped before frenzied crowds and there will be plenty of electricity inside Arthur Ashe Stadium when the 18-year-old plays her first-ever Open quarterfinal against the red-hot Caroline Garcia.
Gauff, the youngest Open quarterfinalist in 13 years, sounds eager.
“When you play these players that are hot, I think it’s more of a mental challenge,’’ Gauff said. “You just got to accept she’s going to hit some great shots. She’s playing the best tennis she has in a long time.’’
Garcia is 10 years older than Gauff and seeded 17th. She rips the ball from the backcourt but has only made one majors quarterfinal previously despite dominating the hard-court season and winning the last tuneup in Cincinnati.
“I’m super excited actually to play Coco in U.S., in New York, quarterfinal of slam,’’ Garcia said. “She’s doing really good this year, very consistent, still very young. But, yeah, it’s a great match to play. She’s aggressive but maybe from a little bit farther than I am. Big serve, huge serve, very powerful. Moving great. Very athletic.’’
ESPN’s Pam Shriver think Garcia has a chance but will have to block out the “Let’s Go, Coco’’ noise.
“It depends on how Garcia handles the loud Ashe Stadium that’s 98 percent for Coco,’’ Shriver said. “Garcia has never been this confident but Coco played great the last two matches. Coco is the best mover in tennis and everyone is impressed by the 18-year-old maturity.’’
The Serena Williams slayer is still alive at the U.S. Open and will play her quarterfinal match Tuesday on the day card. Unseeded Ajla Tomljanovic, who ended Williams’ career Friday, will face fifth seed Ons Jabeur. After beating Williams in a three-set thriller in the third round, the 5-foot-11 Tomljanovic remained a rock in the fourth round with a 7-6, 6-1 win over Ludmilla Samsonova on Sunday night.
“Just feels really good to back up a win that got a lot of attention,’’ she said. “Just felt like it’s been a really big 48 hours. I didn’t really feel like myself today the whole day — a bit drained. I think my will to go further in this tournament was really strong and I didn’t want to stop just after what happened on Friday night. I thought I deserved more. I definitely wanted to go for more.’’
Russian Andrey Rublev is onto the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 9 Cameron Norrie. Rublev’s country is not listed anywhere on score sheets and scoreboards — part of the ATP/WTA/USTA policy this year regarding the Russian war in Ukraine.
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