It was an emotional night of tennis on Friday as Serena Williams, the 23-time grand slam champion, played her final women’s professional tennis match, when she lost 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia. After Williams looked fantastic on Wednesday, in knocking out the second seed, Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2, for many the loss to Tomljanovic was a bit of a surprise.
Who is the next face of American tennis?
The answer could come from another African American, in 18-year-old Coco Gauff of Atlanta, Georgia. Earlier on Friday, Gauff, the 12th-ranked player in the world, defeated the 20th ranked player, Madison Keys of Rock Island, Illinois, 6-2, 6-3, in the third round of the U.S. Open. Both Gauff and Keys have been grand slam finalists in the past. Keys reached the 2017 United States Open Final, before losing to Sloane Stephens of Plantation, Florida, 6-3, 6-0. Gauff reached the 2022 French Open Final, before losing to Iga Swiatek of Poland, 6-1, 6-3.
So far in 2022, Gauff has a record of 30 wins and 16 losses. Her two prior WTA tournament victories came at the 2019 Linz Open in Austria where she beat 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, and the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Open in Italy, where she beat China’s Qiang Wang in the final, 6-1, 6-3.
Who does Gauff play next at 2022 U.S. Open?
Gauff’s next opponent is Shuai Zhang of China, the 36th ranked player in the world, in the fourth round on Sunday. Despite being unseeded, Zhang has had success at the United States Open in the past in doubles. She teamed up with Australia’s Samantha Stosur to win the 2021 United States Open women’s doubles title. Ironically, Zhang and Stosur beat the American duo of Gauff and Caty McNally 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the final. In singles play, Gauff won their only prior meeting head-to-head, in the third round of the 2022 Miami Open, 7-6, 7-5.
Other Americans left in singles at 2022 U.S. Open
In addition to Gauff, there are seven other Americans left in the singles draw. The other American women are Alison Riske-Amritraj, Danielle Collins, Jessica Pegula and Lauren Davis. The three American men left are Brandon Nakashima, Jenson Brooksby, and Frances Tiafoe.
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