Coco Gauff will face Emma Navarro in the fourth round of the 2024 US Open, and she hopes to avoid the mistakes she made in their Wimbledon match this year, which Navarro won.
Gauff hasn't played well leading up to this year's US Open, winning only one match during the North American hard-court swing. She only played in two WTA 1000 events, but going winless in Cincinnati as the defending champion wasn't ideal.
The 20-year-old admitted to the media that she didn't feel confident in her game during that time. Gauff declared that she feels much better in New York, noting that her practices were more fruitful and her level of play has improved.
She has won three matches so far and looks better than before, but she is still not at the level she was last year, and she knows that. Every match will be a battle for her, especially the upcoming one against a player who bested her at the Wimbledon Championships.
It was a very bad match from Gauff, who collapsed as the match went on, losing 4-6, 3-6, and she singled that out as something that needs to change if she hopes to beat Navarro this time around.
"With Emma, I feel like that match at Wimbledon I think I mentally just literally collapsed on the court. I was very frustrated, and she played well. That was, I think to me, the best tennis she played, like that tournament."
"Obviously, I didn’t see her first round, but I watched a little bit her second and third. I think that was like the best she played that week."
Navarro has been playing exceptionally for a while now, and even her performances at the US Open have looked strong. The 23-year-old is currently eight in the 2024 WTA Race to Riyadh, ahead of Qinwen Zheng, who played in a Grand Slam final this year.
She's had a really good year, and Gauff knows that this upcoming match will be difficult because she expects Navarro to bring her best tennis.
"Yeah, so I think going into this match, I have to expect her to play her best tennis, and I just need to know that I need to bring it and mentally be there from the beginning to the end because she’s going to be a tough opponent."
Gauff is the defending champion this year, even though she's not approaching it as something that she needs to do. Defending the trophy would be great because she would win another Grand Slam, but she's not putting that pressure on herself.
She's taking it match by match, which is the right approach, but that doesn't mean she'll find the quality of tennis she needs to beat some of the players she'll need to beat.
Navarro is good enough to beat her, and some even expect it. Gauff believes she is quite capable of winning the matchup, but the last time they faced each other, Navarro won, and she remembers it.
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