Mirra Andreeva had her second match point at 7-6 in the second-set tiebreak, on her own serve, and did not win another point in the set. Coco Gauff took the next three, then the third set 6-2, to beat the French Open champion 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 in two hours and 19 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday and reach the US Open semifinals for the first time since she won the title in 2023.
For most of the first hour it was Andreeva’s match. The 19-year-old, playing her first US Open quarterfinal three months after winning Roland Garros, took the first seven points, broke Gauff in each of her first two service games and led 4-0 after 12 minutes. The set was over in 26. By CBS Sports’ account she was taking pace off the ball and working it to Gauff’s forehand, and the forehand was where the errors came from.
Gauff’s serve never settled. She served for the second set at 5-3 and was broken, with three double faults in that game by USA Today’s count. At 5-5 Andreeva had a break point that would have let her serve for the match; CBS Sports had her missing it with a forehand into the net from close range.
The tiebreak turned twice. Gauff led 4-3 when the two of them played a 39-shot rally, the longest of the match, and she ended it with a drop shot that Andreeva pulled up on rather than chase. Andreeva then won three straight points for a first match point at 6-5 and put a forehand long. On the next point Gauff came forward and Andreeva passed her with a backhand for a second, at 7-6. Gauff won that point and the two after it.
“Maybe risk more, I guess,” Andreeva said afterwards. “I think at that moment, I kind of just wanted to make a rally or a longer point. I think if I would’ve gone for something riskier to see what would have happened — maybe that would be the only thing I would change.”
The third set had none of that. Gauff broke early, and by 3-1 Andreeva, having missed a two-handed backhand at the net on her own serve, was bouncing rackets off the court at the changeover. Gauff, who by CBS Sports’ count had made 40 unforced errors across the first two sets, made two in the third.
Her own verdict. Gauff did not dress it up. “This is probably my worst (serving) match with 12 doubles in a three-setter,” she said. “I probably would’ve taken that last year.” What she had instead, she said, was belief: “The game may not always show up, but I can control the belief in myself. Even if it’s delusional. I think the more instances that I keep showing up and being successful in those moments, maybe the delusion will be more factual.”
She also said that at the break after the first set she had been thinking about Frances Tiafoe, who came from two sets down to beat Alex Michelsen a day earlier. “Sometimes you just need a little bit of inspiration,” she said, “and Frances was that for me in that moment.”
What she got away with. The WTA’s numbers were 12 double faults, 59 percent of first serves in, 38 percent of second-serve points won, and 42 unforced errors against 22 winners. She had served 15 double faults in her four previous matches combined, according to CBS Sports. It was the fifth time Gauff has saved match point in a tour-level win and the second at a major, after the third round of Wimbledon in 2019 against Polona Hercog, according to ESPN.
Gauff is now 6-0 against Andreeva, and three of those wins have come from a set down. She has won 11 straight matches and 20 of her last 22 since Wimbledon. The match was also the sixth quarterfinal at this US Open to reach a deciding set, which ESPN says equals the Open Era record for a major, shared with the 1980 Australian Open, the 2005 US Open and Wimbledon in 2022.
Gauff plays Elena Rybakina in Thursday’s second semifinal, after Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula. Rybakina, who came from a set down to beat Zheng Qinwen earlier on Wednesday, becomes world No. 1 on Monday. Their head-to-head is 1-1, and Rybakina won the most recent meeting, in the Toronto semifinals last month. “Elena, well she’s the new world No. 1, so it’s going to be a tough match,” Gauff said. With Gauff through, the women’s semifinals have the top four seeds for only the second time at this tournament in the Open Era, after 1975. The full semifinal schedule is here.
Related: Coco Gauff profile | Mirra Andreeva profile | Zheng Double-Faulted at 4-4, and Rybakina Became World No. 1
