Coco Gauff has reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open for the third consecutive year, maintaining her undefeated streak in sets played throughout the tournament. Gauff defeated fellow American Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-4 on Monday night inside Arthur Ashe Stadium to advance.
Gauff, the No. 4 seed, has yet to drop a set in this year's competition. She will face the No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals.
"I think I just welcome it," Gauff said of playing in a U.S. Open quarterfinal match. "A quarterfinal for me, I feel like I'm at the point where I'm used to being in this position. I'm constantly putting myself in quarterfinals, so the moment doesn't seem as big anymore."
Gauff, 22, is the youngest American woman to reach three major quarterfinals in a single year since Serena Williams in 2003. Since 2000, only Williams and Maria Sharapova have reached more Grand Slam quarterfinals before the age of 23 than Gauff, who is tied with Kim Clijsters at 12.
In her match against Jovic, Gauff extended her winning streak on the WTA Tour to 10 matches and secured her 19th consecutive set won. The last time she dropped a set was in the second round in Cincinnati. Her victory over Jovic took 1 hour and 33 minutes.
Gauff faced an early challenge, being broken in the opening game of the match, but quickly responded by breaking Jovic's serve and winning the next six games to take the first set. She demonstrated strong return performance, landing 90 percent of her returns in the first set.
The second set was more competitive. Jovic saved multiple break points in her early service games to stay level. At 2-2 in the set, Gauff won a 23-shot rally at the net, eventually breaking Jovic's serve for a 3-2 lead and going on to win the set and the match.
"I think just my nervous system and knowing that even when the pressure is there, I'm able to rely on a lot of different things to win points in many different ways," Gauff said about her current confidence. "I think that gives me confidence knowing that I have probably up to this point, like, a plan D. I think there's comfortability in having options. If plan A doesn't work, there's B, there's C, and there's D."
She added, "I think the biggest difference I've been playing is just trying to play with no regrets, and I think I have a lot more fun and success playing like this."
