Gauff can’t overcome slow start in straight-sets loss in U.S. Open quarterfinals

Coco Gauff was under immediate and intense pressure in her U.S. Open quarterfinal against No. 17-seeded Caroline Garcia and could never puzzle out a winning strategy against the Frenchwoman.

The 18-year-old Gauff, seeded No. 12, was pushed off the court 6-3, 6-4 by Garcia, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal Tuesday night.

Gauff, a Delray Beach native, has been primed to be the next American champion since she came to notice in her mid-teens.

She made movement in that superstar direction when she reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open this year. It is likely that Gauff will live up to all the expectations, but it won’t happen at this U.S. Open.

“First quarterfinal at the U.S. Open, so there’s a lot to be proud of,” Gauff said. “But, like I said, definitely disappointed. I think it makes me want to work even harder. I feel like I know what I have to do.”

From the first ball, Garcia, 28, was in control of the match played under the roof because of rainy conditions. Garcia raced to a 4-0 lead before Gauff broke serve to get on the scoreboard in the opening set.

There seemed to be nothing that Garcia couldn’t do better than Gauff — she had the variety, she had the power, she had the touch, she had the volleys and she had the angles with her shotmaking.

And, even more importantly, Garcia appears to have the confidence and belief needed to make the notion of losing not an option.

“I’ve always played very aggressive,” Garcia said. “I just always go for my shots.

“I’m looking for the next challenge.”

Garcia has been one of the most successful players this year, winning three titles on three different surfaces — Bad Homburg on grass, Warsaw on clay, and Cincinnati last month on hardcourt — in the past few months.

She also holds the record for most aces hit by a women player this season with 290 aces heading into the semifinals.

“Obviously with a lot of wins, yeah, I’m having fun playing,” Garcia said. “I can see so many things I can still improve. So it’s a great challenge for our team.”

In contrast, Gauff couldn’t find a read on Garcia’s game, nor an acceptable range with her own game. When it comes to a game plan, Gauff’s preference is to impose her game on the opponent, but Garcia was unwilling to cooperate.

The two had played twice before and Gauff won both matchups. The last of those matches came at the 2022 Doha tournament.

“The previous times that I played her, I would say she’s definitely striking the ball much better,” Gauff said. “Kudos to her and her team because I think she’s gotten a lot better since the last time I played her.

“I think overall it was a good level by her. I mean, like I said after the match, it was too good. That’s all you can do sometimes.”

One factor that many banked on helping Gauff was a consistently enthusiastic crowd pushing her to victory. Maybe it was because it was a rainy day in New York and ticket holders weren’t desperate to come out, or that Gauff gave them little to applaud, but fans arrived late to the match and mostly left their cheering charm at home.

Garcia, who will take on No. 5 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the semifinals, has won 10 career titles and was ranked No. 4 in 2018. The win over Gauff will return the Frenchwoman to the top 10 in the next rankings.

Players who live in South Florida went 0-2 in U.S. Open women’s matches on Tuesday.

Ajla Tomljanovic, who likely ended Serena Williams’ career in the third-round here, also came up short in the quarterfinals.

The 29-year-old Tomljanovic — a Croatian-born, Australian citizen, who came to live in Boca Raton 17 years ago — couldn’t prevent Jabeur from becoming the first African woman in the Open Era to reach the U.S. Open semifinals.

Tomljanovic, who bowed out to Jabeur 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), struggled with her serve, posting nine double faults and had her serve broken on five of six break points she faced.

“I was pretty disappointed with my serving today,” Tomljanovic said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that let me down. Not just the double faults but just the percentage wasn’t great.

“I was always under pressure with the scoreline. Yeah, never really found my rhythm on the serve.”

As a result of her quarterfinal showing here, Tomljanovic will jump to a career-high ranking, which could go as high as No. 34.

The quarterfinal round seems to be Tomljanovic’s Achilles heel — she’s now lost seven consecutive quarterfinal encounters, with four of those matches coming at the Grand Slams.