{"id":44643,"date":"2026-09-04T18:33:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T16:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=44643"},"modified":"2026-09-04T18:33:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T16:33:24","slug":"gauff-overcomes-badosa-test-to-reach-us-open-third-round","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/gauff-overcomes-badosa-test-to-reach-us-open-third-round\/","title":{"rendered":"Gauff overcomes Badosa test to reach US Open third round"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"auto\">World number four Coco Gauff overcame Paula Badosa 6-4 7-6(5) in the second round of the US Open on Thursday to extend \u200bher bid for a second title at Flushing Meadows.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">On a sweltering evening that \u200ccontrasted with the rain-hit opening days, Gauff took to Arthur Ashe Court with the backing of a partisan crowd and hopes of continuing her pursuit of a third Grand Slam title.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">But it was no \u200bsimple task against the world number 87, who, despite the gulf in the \u200brankings, holds a positive record over the American, including victories in their \u2060last two meetings a straight-sets win at last year&#8217;s Australian Open first round and \u200bmore recently, during this summer&#8217;s grass-court swing in Berlin.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The pair traded blows from the opening \u200bexchanges, both players deploying their best weapons from the baseline in search of an early advantage.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\nBadosa threatened early to seize the initiative, forcing Gauff to save two break points. But the American struck with \u200bthe decisive break, aided by a costly forehand error from the Spaniard that appeared \u200bto rattle her both mentally and in her execution, as Gauff closed out the opener to take \u200cthe lead.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The \u2060second set proved just as much of a spectacle, with both players swapping breaks twice apiece before a tiebreak was needed, Badosa raising her level as she searched for a way back into the match.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The tiebreak followed the same script until Badosa sent a \u200blong ball, prompting a \u200beuphoric celebration from \u2060Gauff as she sealed her place in the next round.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Paula is a tough player. I feel like I had the lead but there \u200bwasn&#8217;t too much I did wrong. She stepped it up. I&#8217;m \u200breally happy \u2060to be through today,&#8221; the 22-year-old said on court.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">&#8220;I saw the draw. Definitely not someone you want to play in the 2nd round. Former number two in the world. Great competitor. \u2060I \u200bthink I need matches like this to build my \u200bconfidence. I\u2019m happy with how I managed today. There was a bit of nerves.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\nFan favourite Gauff will next face \u200banother Spaniard, Cristina Bucsa.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<p>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27677,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-44643","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Fan favourite Gauff will next face \u200banother Spaniard, Cristina Bucsa.","published_date":"","news_description":"Fan favourite Gauff will next face \u200banother Spaniard, Cristina Bucsa.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44644,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44643\/revisions\/44644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=44643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}