Coco Gauff, the No. 4 seed, absolutely locked in during her 2026 US Open second-round match, dispatching Paula Badosa in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6. This wasn’t just any win, either. Gauff faced a veteran player she’d had a losing record against coming into Thursday’s clash, and she turned a serious challenge into a massive opportunity to show how much her game has tightened up lately.
Gauff Smashes Through a Tough Rivalry
Listen, coming into this match, the stats weren’t exactly screaming “easy win” for our girl. Gauff had a losing record against Badosa, sitting at 3-5. And get this, Badosa had straight-up owned her in their last two showdowns, shutting her down at Berlin this year and even in the quarterfinals of last year’s Australian Open. Major yikes, right? So yeah, there were definitely some butterflies, a real “prove it” moment on the court. But any worries about a repeat performance from Badosa faded fast when Gauff broke her midway through the first set. After that, Gauff looked like she was cruising! The second set looked like it was heading for an early finish when Gauff nearly broke for what would have been a commanding lead. Badosa complicated things a bit, snagging her own break while Gauff was up 3-4, and they even exchanged another pair of breaks after that. But Gauff stayed ice cold, forcing and winning the tiebreak to close it out. No messing around with a third set, which is exactly what you want to see.
Her Serve Is Finally Behaving, And The Tour Is On Notice
This kind of dominant performance against a tough opponent isn’t a fluke. Gauff has been playing some of her best tennis in more than a year over the past few weeks, a span that includes a monster semifinal appearance at Wimbledon and an awesome title win in Cincinnati. She owes a huge chunk of that to a serve that is finally, FINALLY behaving. We saw glimpses of it in her first-round victory, but against Badosa? She committed only five doubles faults while getting 35 of 70 first serves in, hitting that 50% mark. Those are totally acceptable numbers, especially compared to the struggles she had a year ago. More importantly, when that shot was going in, it was effective. That’s the key, right? She’s not just getting it over, she’s making it count.
This win keeps Gauff squarely on track for her second US Open title and what would be her third Grand Slam overall. Up next, she’ll face another Spaniard, Cristina Bucsa, in the third round. Assuming Gauff handles her business there, she’s looking at her first ranked opponent, taking on the victor of the clash between No. 14 Iva Jovic and No. 17 Alexandra Eala. Both of those are rising stars, so it won’t be easy. But here’s the kicker: if Gauff wins the title at Flushing Meadows, AND No. 2 Elena Rybakina fails to make the semifinal, Gauff will snag the No. 1 WTA ranking for the first time in her career. Talk about high stakes! Let’s go, Coco!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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