Coco Gauff and Caroline Wozniacki easily were the two pronounced crowd favorites on the women’s side throughout the first week of the U.S. Open — one an up-and-coming American star full of promise, the other an incredibly popular former top-ranked player returning from a three-year hiatus to start a family.
Bridging the generations at opposite ends of their careers, they faced each other for the first time Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium with a coveted spot in the quarterfinals and additional fan adulation on the line.
The 19-year-old Gauff required a third set for the third time in four matches in the tournament, but her quest for a first career Grand Slam title moved one step closer to realization following a mostly sharp 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory over the 33-year-old Wozniacki to reach the quarters at Flushing Meadows for a second straight year.
The No. 6 seed will face Sunday’s winner between top-seeded reigning champion Iga Swiatek and No. 20 Jelena Ostapenko in one of the night’s marquee matches on Ashe.
Wozniacki — the former No. 1 player in the world out of Denmark — retired from the game in 2020 and had two children during her time off with her husband, former Knicks forward David Lee.
The two-time U.S. Open finalist returned to the game in June and thrilled the crowds at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as a wild-card entry last week, including posting wins over No. 11 seed Petra Kvitova and American Jennifer Brady.
Gauff struggled to get to the finish line twice in the first three rounds, dropping the first set in her opening match against Laura Siegemund while also needing three sets to survive the third round against No. 32 Elise Martens.
Still, Gauff exited the court Sunday having won 15 of her last 17 matches.
Wozniacki converted a break point to open the match, but Gauff regrouped quickly this time and grabbed back two breaks in the fourth and eighth games before serving out the first set.
Gauff, the 2022 French Open finalist, overcame two break points to even the second set at 2-2. But a Wozniacki backhand winner on a subsequent break point gave her a 5-3 lead and the opening she needed to serve it out, forcing a third set.
The veteran former champion initially maintained the momentum on an unforced error into the net by Gauff on break point in the opening game of the decisive set.
But a backhand volley at the net by Gauff and two unforced errors by Wozniacki enabled Gauff to break right back and level the set.
Wozniacki also sent two errors into the net on her next service game, enabling Gauff to seize a 3-1 lead. That game also featured a short-hopped shot by Gauff that hit the top of the net and landed on the other side, causing Wozniacki to throw her hands up in disbelief.
Wozniacki had a 30-40 chance to work her way back on serve, but Gauff ran down a cross-court ball down the right sideline for a passing winner for deuce as the crowd roared. She then smashed a volley at the net on ad-point for a 4-1 cushion that Wozniacki could not overcome.