With her opening-match jitters behind her, Coco Gauff was on her way to a rout, bludgeoning Timea Babos early to take a 6-2, 2-0 lead.
But she’s only 15, and Gauff got outmuscled in the second set before rising up once again to pull out a difficult third set that just will continue her young legacy.
At her age, nothing is likely to come easy in her first U.S. Open, but Gauff handled the mounting pressure with aplomb, outlasting the 26-year-old Babos in the second-round thriller under the lights at a raucous Louis Armstrong Stadium on Thursday for her second straight three-set win, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
The 15-year-old phenom was in rhythm early and steely late, and now the U.S. Open gets a glorious third-round battle between Gauff and defending champion Naomi Osaka.
“Let’s Go Coco,’’ the fans chanted deep into the third set as the stadium rocked with noise.
In that third set, Gauff blew a break point at 4-3, but then held serve at love to make it 5-4. Gauff dug down to hit terrific angles and a slew of unorthodox sliced shots and moon-balls that baffled Babos.
Gauff got up match point after a slugfest ended with Gauff coming to the net and hitting a backhand, drop-volley winner. Babos then pummeled a backhand into the net after a Gauff moon-ball ruined her rhythm.
Babos is more a doubles specialist, having won 21 titles, but she can be a gritty, smart singles competitor, and it became a sensational match with a raft of long, gritty rallies. Gauff was flying all over the court, hitting the deck after lunging for shots on the run.
“It’s been amazing,’’ Gauff said. “She played so good. I’m just so happy to get through.’’
A double-fault machine in her opening victory against Russian Antastasia Potapova, Gauff got her serve cranking early after she was broken in the first set. She broke right back and soared the rest of the set.
But then the double faults returned, going too much on her second serve, and Babos righted the ship, but only for a while.
During one of her breaks, Gauff dazzled by retrieving two balls going side to side on the baseline, then firing a backhand winner on her third great get. The place exploded as she sent up 4-2, then she held at love for a 5-2 lead, pumping in an ace at 40-0.
Osaka is looking forward to their first meeting. Gauff talked about how nice Osaka had been to her when they met at the Miami Open when she was 13.
“She’s super sweet — I would love to play her,’’ Osaka said. “When I hear people talking about someone, I want to have the opportunity to play them just to assess it for myself. I definitely would love that.”
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