THERE were straight set wins for Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff today at the US Open in New York, the men’s and women’s singles favourites cruising through to the semi-finals.
Serbian great Djokovic, who holds the record for the most men’s singles Grand Slam titles, defied the stifling heat to ease past Taylor Fritz 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 and stay in the hunt for a fourth Flushing Meadows crown that would see him match Margaret Court’s all-time record haul of 24 major titles.
The 36-year-old Djokovic, who missed last year’s US Open due to Covid vaccination restrictions, produced a cool, clinical effort, and improved his record against American opposition at the US Open to a perfect 12-0.
Djokovic has now secured his 47th Grand Slam semi-final, the outright most of any male player in the Open Era, according to Opta Ace.
In women’s singles, 19-year-old American sixth seed Gauff continued her quest for a maiden Grand Slam title as she crushed Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 6-2 earlier today to reach the semi-finals.
Gauff, whose run-up to the US Open included hard court titles in Washington and Cincinnati, converted six of her seven break points and dropped serve just once in just over one hour at Arthur Ashe Stadium where the temperature rose above 90 Fahrenheit (32.2 Celsius).
Up next for Gauff, who is the youngest American to reach the US Open semi-finals since Serena Williams in 2001, will be either Czech 10th seed and French Open finalist Karolina Muchova or Romanian 30th seed Sorana Cirstea.
With the win, Gauff avenged her round of 16 loss to Ostapenko at this year’s Australian Open that left the American in tears.
Meanwhile, China’s Zheng Qinwen upset last year’s runner-up Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the fourth round with a 6-2 6-4 win over the fifth seed, who also reached the final at Wimbledon this year.
Jabeur has battled with illness and she struggled to catch her breath at times earlier in the tournament. She looked exhausted against Zheng, who will face second seed Aryna Sabalenka in her first Grand Slam quarter-final.
PHOTO: Coco Gauff.
