![]() “You have to be focused and finish points," Muchova said about the challenge that facing Gauff presents. Muchova made 36 unforced errors, 11 more than Gauff. If she wasn't at 100% - what player is by this point of the season? - Gauff deserved credit for finding the right times to let Muchova miss as opposed to trying to get too aggressive. She was visited by a physiotherapist during the extended break caused by the protest and said her right arm - covered by a black sleeve - bothered her during the tournament. “Just kind of sad about the performance,” said Muchova, who reached the final at Roland Garros in June. By match's end, Muchova had gone just 10 for 24 at the net. Muchova lost the point on her first three forays forward - and Gauff curled perfect a lob winner once in each of the opening two games. 10 seed Muchova, a 27-year-old from the Czech Republic, get comfortable at the net, where her varied style often pays dividends. One real key in that stretch: Gauff did not let No. Gauff was terrific in the early stages: She took 12 of the first 16 points for a 3-0 lead after merely 10 minutes. When Gauff and Muchova got started at 7:15 p.m., it was cloudy and considerably cooler than it’s been this week at Flushing Meadows, dropping from nearly 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 Celsius) on Wednesday to the low 80s F (high 20s C). ![]() “I haven't thought that far ahead, to be honest.” Open, played in the second semifinal Thursday night. 1 in the rankings for the first time next week, and Keys, the runner-up at the 2017 U.S. Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open in January and is guaranteed to move up to No. ![]() The streak includes the two biggest titles of Gauff's career - and now she needs one more win to get an even more important championship. Finally, Gauff completed her 11th win a row and the 17th in her past 18 matches, a run that began after a first-round exit at Wimbledon in July. With Gauff leading 6-5 and Muchova serving, the one-point-away count kept climbing. They would play on for nearly a half-hour. Muchova erased that with a volley winner and went on to break back. When action resumed, the play was pretty even for several games, until Gauff surged ahead and got her first match point. All four were arrested three were escorted away relatively quickly, but it took more time to remove the person glued to the ground.īoth women spent time in the locker room during the delay. She was up by a set and 1-0 in the second when four protesters disrupted play from seats in an upper level of the arena. “But the job is not done, so hopefully you can back me on Saturday.” “I grew up watching this tournament so much, so it means a lot to be in the final. “Some of those points, it was so loud, and I don’t know if my ears are going to be OK,” said Gauff, the first American teenager to make it to the title match in New York since Serena Williams in 2001. Gauff pumped her fists, waved to the fans and put a finger to her ear, as if to say she wanted to hear even more support. Muchova then missed a backhand to end it. The toughest part for Gauff, who was the runner-up at the 2022 French Open, might have been closing out Thursday's victory: She needed six match points to get it done, raucously supported by a loud, partisan crowd that chair umpire Alison Hughes repeatedly implored to quiet down.Īfter failing to convert one match point while serving for the win at 5-3, then another four in what turned out to be the last game, Gauff got the last chance she would need when she smacked a forehand winner to cap a 40-stroke exchange that was the longest of the contest. Gauff, a 19-year-old from Florida, reached her first final at Flushing Meadows by defeating Muchova 6-4, 7-5 on what was anything but an ordinary evening. Now she is one win away from becoming a Grand Slam champion. It’s been rather obvious for quite some time that Gauff is no ordinary teenager. Open semifinal against Karolina Muchova was interrupted for 50 minutes Thursday night by environmental activists - one of whom glued his bare feet to the concrete floor in the stands. And not, most distracting of all, when her U.S. Not when match point after match point went by the wayside. Not when a big lead in the first set evaporated. NEW YORK (AP) - Coco Gauff never wavered.
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