REIGNING US Open champion Coco Gauff moved a win close to defending her title, defeating Ukrainian veteran Elina Svitolina in a come-from-behind victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Gauff won 3-6 6-3 6-3 in the third round of the major, getting up in a time of two hours and three minutes and getting past the 27th seed.

After storming through her first two matches dropping just five games, Gauff found herself a set down against Svitolina. Grinding her way back into the match, Gauff turned around her serve to go from 29 per cent second serve efficiency in the first set, to 70 per cent in the second set. She maintained a strong first serve percentage throughout, and was critical in claiming her sole break point opportunity of the second set.

After levelling the match, Gauff was not about to let it go, finding the confidence to win 83 and 43 per cent of her first and second serve points, while also winning 56 per cent of her receiving points. While both players did not serve an ace in the deciding set – and Gauff hit 12 unforced errors to five winners – the American was able to win the important points to secure the victory.

Gauff said she needed to “reset” after a disappointing end to the first set, and was able to work her way back into the match.

“I mean, I feel like I lost, like, eight points in a row at the end of the first set,” Gauff said post-match. “Probably more. So I knew I needed a reset at that point. I just went and used the bathroom, changed the bottom half of my clothes, and splashed some water on my face, and felt like a new person coming out.

“I just didn’t want to leave the court with any regrets.”

Gauff has turned her form around since losing to Yulia Putintseva at Cincinnati as she went to defend her title there. However she took the positives out of that defeat.

“I lost so early, because of that I was able to actually train, which I hadn’t been able to,” she said before the tournament. “I do my best results when I come off a training block. I was able to train for a good week and a half.”

Each year is a new tournament and Gauff is well aware. The American young gun said she would love to defend her title, but it would not define her.

“At the end of the day, to defend would be great,” she told reporters. “But I feel like it’s an unnecessary amount of pressure to put that on yourself. When you step on the court, you just have that feeling. It’s like, ‘OK, I know I can perform really well here. I’ve done it before in the past, and I’ll do it again.’

“That’s been my motto. I know I have the chance to do it again, whether it happens 2024 or years in the future, I think I have the belief that I will do it again.”

AROUND THE COURTS

Gauff will go head-to-head with fellow American Emma Navarro in the fourth round after her 13th seed compatriot also defeated a seeded Ukrainian in 19th seed Marta Kostyuk, 6-4 4-6 6-3. They were the sole Americans through to the Round of 16 in the bottom half of the draw after both Madison Keys and Peyton Stearns lost.

Croatian 24th seed Donna Vekic defeated Stearns in a tight two-setter 7-5 6-4, while Belgian 33rd seed Elise Mertens came from behind to defeat Keys in just under three hours, 6-7 7-5 6-4. They were joined in the Round of 16 by Chinese duo, seventh seed Qinwen Zheng, and Yafan Wang, the latter of whom upset 20th seed Victoria Azarenka.

In the other completed result, Spanish 26th seed Paula Badosa ended the run of Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse.