As Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva faced off at the US Open on Wednesday, fans in the stands remarked on how old — really young — they were while competing at the top of their sport.
Gauff, who at 19 is not much older than the 16-year-old Andreeva, has for years been a household name in tennis, since her run to the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2019. His rising star means he often finds himself playing in feature matches at the US Open, in front of the biggest fans in person and in select television slots.
On Wednesday, that was in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Andreeva at Arthur Ashe Stadium, topping Novak Djokovic. It was a matchup, and a moment, that Gauff, a sixth-seeded American, easily controlled while maintaining a breezy but brisk pace.
Some of his confidence, Gauff acknowledged, comes from experience. When asked in court what he’s learned over the past three years, Gauff said that when he was 16, he played every match like it was “life or death.”
“You still have to give yourself time to make mistakes,” he says. “And losses, as long as you learn from them, are OK.”
Andreeva, an unseeded Russian, said after the match that she hadn’t gotten much advice from older players on the tour, but she was eager for their wisdom: “I’ll always listen to them.”
Andreeva played in her first tour event this year and showed some youthful struggles in keeping her composure on court. In his last match against Gauff, at French Open in the round of 32, he hit a ball into the stands, hitting a spectator. He received a code violation and admitted he could be disqualified, calling it a “really stupid move.” He too fined $8,000 at Wimbledon for unsportsmanlike conduct after throwing a racket, arguing and refusing to shake hands with the chair umpire.
Andreeva defended herself by saying that Roger Federer also had outbursts when he was younger, echoing the argument made by other players, such as Serena Williams, about whether women’s players and male players of men receive similar scrutiny for their behavior.
Gauff, who is often praised for her composure, said this week that she debated whether to complain in her opening-round match against Laura Siegemund about the pace of play, with Siegemund often pushing the serve clock. to its limits.
“I don’t really like the confrontation,” Gauff said in his postmatch media interview on Monday. He said he was thinking about delays throughout the match. “I wasn’t sure if I was in the right place or not until it happened so many times,” he said, but he reached the point of frustration and felt the need to talk to the seat manager.
“I try my best not to let my emotions get the better of me,” she said.
Gauff promised before her second-round match that her opponent would not mess around this time, and ignore age — herself and Andreeva. “He’s got his rank, and that’s all that matters,” Gauff said before their fight.
Instead, their youth played out in the form of athleticism, as they traded long, sprinting rallies from the baseline and as Gauff found openings to inch forward and finish points.
A rally in the second set lasted 30 shots, and ended with Gauff expertly handling a drop shot from Andreeva with a backhand approach shot for a winner. He celebrated that point by urging the crowd to cheer, a request the fans quickly obliged.
At that time, it was clear that Gauff and Andreeva had no problem reaching young fans.
“It’s amazing that they’re so young and they have this amazing ability and talent to just be here and play on that court,” said David Keating, 10, as his father applied sunscreen to him and his twin brother. Michael.
Eve Maulshagen, who started playing tennis three years ago and just made her high school team in Central New Jersey, said on the main plaza at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center that she liked the idea that someone in age 16 can play in front of so. many people on TV. “That’s what I’ll be in a year when I’m 16 – but not like a professional,” he says with a laugh.
Gauff tries to ignore age as a factor during his fights. On Friday, she will face Elise Mertens, a 27-year-old from Belgium, in the third round. They have played twiceand Gauff won both matches, most recently at the French Open in 2022 in the round of 16.
“I want to maintain a long career,” Gauff said in his court interview Wednesday. “I really have to have fun on the court and I think I enjoy the wins and the losses.”
