Coco Gauff Joins Exit Of US Open Superstars After New York Horror Show

Coco Gauff joined Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz on the US Open scrap-heap Sunday as the defending champion crashed out to Emma Navarro in a blizzard of mistakes. As Gauff exited, US hopes were then rekindled when Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz reached the men's last-eight, igniting hopes of a first homegrown male Grand Slam champion since Andy Roddick's win in New York in 2003. Third-ranked Gauff slumped to a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 fourth round defeat to her American teammate on the back of 19 double faults and 60 unforced errors. 

The 20-year-old's exit means Serena Williams remains the last woman to successfully defend the US Open title back in 2014.

"I lost in the first round the last two years and now to be making the quarter-finals is pretty insane," said Navarro, who will face Spain's Paula Badosa for a place in the semi-finals.

Gauff's loss was another body blow to the season's final Grand Slam.

Djokovic, the defending men's champion, was knocked out in the third round to suffer his earliest exit in 18 years.

Fellow crowd-pleaser Alcaraz, the 2022 winner in New York and reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, was stunned in the second round.

"I gave it my all," said Gauff. "Obviously there were things execution-wise, where I was like, I wish I could serve better. I think if I did that, it would have been a different story."

Navarro had defeated Gauff at Wimbledon in July and was dominant again on Sunday from the outset.

The 23-year-old broke for 4-2 in the first set and sealed the opener in the ninth game where one rally stretched to 27 shots.

Gauff recovered from a break down in the second set to level the tie, but it was a brief respite as she served up three more double faults in the third game of the decider