Coco Gauff Advances To U.S. Open Quarterfinals For First Time

Tennis star Coco Gauff is making her way to the U.S. Open quarterfinal, after defeating Shuai Zhang in the semifinals on Sunday (Sept. 4). Despite an initial struggle during both sets, the Florida native battled her way back from 5-4 and 5-3 deficits at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

According to ESPN, Gauff played resiliently, defeating Zhang, defeating Zhang with a comeback win 7-5, 7-5. The 18-year-old phenom became the youngest American to advance to the quarterfinals since 17-year-old Melanie Oudin who did so in 2009.

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During the postgame interview, Gauff was asked about her in-game gestures, which saw the athlete giving a “period” hand signal. According to HotNewHipHop, the tennis player explained she had to channel the City Girls to complete her comeback.

“That was a City Girls’ ‘period,’ It’s a City Girls summer. Period,” Coco affectionately explained to the press. “That’s what it is. JT, Yung Miami, you don’t know? I got my long nails, [and] it’s supposed to be like that. It’s feeding off the crowd.”

The athlete is set to play her next match Tuesday (Sept. 6) against number 17 seeded Caroline Garcia. Garcia and Gauff will face off at Arthur Ashe Stadium at 7 p.m. ET. “I’m super excited to play Coco in the U.S., in New York, quarterfinal of a Slam. It’s great,” Garcia expressed about the forthcoming match.

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