Coco Gough is playing with the confidence of a seasoned player at the US Open
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Coco Gough is playing with the confidence of a seasoned player at the US Open |
Madison .adol, Serena Williams, who was scheduled to play at 7 p.m. The win avenged Goff's loss to Keys in Adelaide, Australia in January.
"I told myself he was going to hit me," Goff said. "Last time, I think I was a little passive, so he just put his hands on me, and today I said, I'm not going to let that happen.
Serena Williams and Goff are at the bottom of the singles draw. Goff has followed Williams' matches closely, not only because she is one of Goff's favorite players and his biggest inspiration, but because he hopes to face her.
"It's been a lifelong dream of mine," Goff said.
Goff will face Shuai Zhang, who is ranked 36th in women's singles and defeated Rebecca Marino in the fourth round on Friday.
The fourth round is Goff's furthest in singles at the US Open. Three years ago, Goff, then 15, walked off the court in tears after losing to Naomi Osaka, then the world No. 1, in the third round. Fighting back tears at what Osaka advised him to do in the post-match interview, Gough said he would learn from the loss.
Since then, he has lost in the first and second rounds of the Open, but he showed his progress on the court on Friday. Goff, now 18, looked like a confident veteran, wearing his signature blue, pink and light green "Coco CG1" shoes and reacting to what he said.
"He was really confused at the time," Goff said of the 2019 match with Osaka. “It was my first US Open, and I thought I was going to go out with a bang. And, yeah, I didn't. She added, "I'm definitely happy that people expected something from me, but I think it's more focused on my expectations of myself than other people.
After Keys won the first game of the first set, Goff won six of the next seven to take the set. However, the win wasn't as easy as the margin indicated, as Keys forced Goff to run the court and hit shots from tight angles.
In the second game, both battled to secure a victory, steadily going from one lead to two. Keys seemingly sent Goff running all over the court with powerful shots, and the game seemed to settle back into rhythm with Goff in the lead. But Goff planted a near net forehand that landed just behind Keys to take the game and let out a loud cheer as the crowd roared with him.
Goff, one of the most popular tennis players, had a significant audience advantage in his first two matches, sighing in frustration when he won and when his opponent defeated him. Friday was a little different as the crowd continued to celebrate what, a fellow American. It was a luxury mistake that other opponents did not enjoy. The three brothers sitting next to each other seemed to have something in common as one shouted, "Come on, Madison! As loud as possible while another shouts: "Come on, Coco!
However, he cheers for Key, as he throws a ball and screams in frustration as the crowd cheers for Goff. Then he recovered, and the crowd roared, winning that game and the next to take the second set 4-3 on aggregate. But Keys' streak ended there and Goff dominated the rest of the set to win the match.
Goff and Zhang faced off in singles matches. Goff won the Miami Open 7-6(1), 7-5, in March. Last year, they met in doubles when Zhang and Samantha Stosur defeated Goff and Katy McNally to win the US Open women's doubles title.
Zhang, 33, recalled Goff's talent from the Miami game and how "smart" Goff's younger brother was in the stands. He said it was hard for him to imagine Goff reaching the French Open final earlier this year, which he lost to Iga Svitek at age 18, because he remembers him as a "14, 15-year-old kid. . That he started playing professionally. And because he thought him old, he added.
business
Like Zhang, Goff's first thoughts about his fourth-round opponent didn't have much to do with tennis. Zhang is one of the nicest guys on tour, Goff said. Remember how Zhang congratulated him when the gaffe happened