2025 US Open – Coco Gauff digs deep for victory spurred on by Simone Biles
Safely into the third round of her home Grand Slam, it has been a tournament for Gauff defined by her serve. The two-time Olympian brought in a biomechanics coach to aid her struggles, improving from her first-round win though still seeking improvement.
The world number three committed eight double faults, seven of which came in the opening set where she was broken on four occasions. After seeing Biles in the stands, the second set marked clear improvement: zero break points suffered, just one double fault and a first serve percentage of 77 per cent.
“It was honestly her first Olympics, I think it was in Rio [2016], that’s the one that sticks to my memory the most,” Gauff said in her post-match press conference. “She’s the greatest, one of the greatest female athletes. It’s her and Serena [Williams] for me, on my Mount Rushmore of athletes.
The third seed continued, “I think everything she went through on the mental side of things of the sport, something that I followed closely and tried to learn from. So to see her there tonight gave me a reminder that I needed. I was lucky, I actually just came from talking to her so I was able to tell her that in person.”
Indeed, Gauff and Biles had the chance to meet in the bowels of Flushing Meadows after the match, a special moment in what had been a memorable night for both women.
Biles congratulated Gauff in person, telling her [via the US Open], “Of course, I had to [come], you’ve been popping off lately! Gymnastics is so different so I just wanted to scream, ‘Go Coco!’ but then they were like, ‘Maybe not right now’ and I was like ‘Got it’. But no, congrats! I love watching you, everything you do.”
World no. 3 Gauff told the 11-time Olympic medallist, “You’re such an inspiration. Like seriously what I said in the interview, I was thinking about that literally. My mom did gymnastics on a way lower level than you, and so she was like, ‘If I can focus on that, then you can do that.’ You’re such an inspiration, seriously. Thanks for coming,”
Next up for Gauff at the US Open is 28th seed Magdalena Fręch, as the 2023 US Open champion continues her pursuit to retain her concrete jungle crown.