US Open 2022: Coco Gauff, Caroline Garcia advance to R4

American teen tennis sensation Coco Gauff advanced to the fourth round of the ongoing US Open 2022 by defeating compatriot and US Open 2017 finalist Madison Keys in their highly-anticipated third-round clash in the women's singles category on Friday.

Gauff won the match by 6-2, 6-3. With this win, she continues the US Open run of her career.

After losing to Keys back in January this year. But in just eight months, she avenged that loss to reach the round of 16.

In the first set, Keys broke Gauff's serve immediately and Gauff broke back in the next game with a forehand passing shot. From this point on, Keys got to serve only once and lost the first set 6-2 with 11 unforced errors.

In the second set, Gauff continued her domination and won that set as well by 6-3.

The number 12 seed will meet Zhang Shuai of China in her fourth-round match on Sunday.

Also, on the other hand, the Number 17 seed Caroline Garcia kept her great summer run going with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Canada's Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 champion in her third round match.

Garcia hit 31 winners past her opponent and broke serve five times out of ten opportunities in a match that lasted for one hour and 27 minutes. Andreescu on the other hand suffered her second loss at US Open, having won 11. She hit 11 winners and had 13 unforced errors to her name.

Garcia will face World Number 29 Alison Riske-Amritraj of the United States in her round of 16 match, who won against Wang Xiyu by 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 21 minutes.

Also, American Tennis legend Serena Williams bid farewell to the sport on Friday, after her defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in the third round match of the women's singles category in the ongoing US Open 2022.

Serena, only a few weeks away from turning 41 and perhaps the greatest woman the world of tennis has ever seen, lost the match 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1.

Serena was heading into the match ranked at number 605 worldwide, but still, the Arthur Ashe Stadium was jam-packed to witness the tennis legend play her 1014th match and perhaps, the final one of her storied career, which boasts of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, an Open Era record. Williams has 73 WTA tour titles, with Martina Navratilova of America leading the list with 167, followed by Chris Evert (157), Stefanie Graf (107), Court (92).

Tomljanovic on the other hand was in red hot form, having won 15 out of her previous 19 matches.

Serena looked to be in control during the opening set, breaking her opponent at love for a 5-3 advantage. But her Aussie opponent kept calm and took the set 7-5.

Then Tomlijanovic was serving at 0-1, 30-40 in the second set. Serena delivered a nifty backhand volley, reigniting her chances in the match and the crowd as well. The Aussie fought back but proceedings were level at 5-all. A tie-breaker happened and Serena came out on top in the second set to force a decider.

In the final set, Tomlijanovic took a 3-1 lead and from that point on, there was no looking back for her. She won the final set 6-1 to get possibly the biggest win of her career. Serena played her heart out for three hours and four minutes, but fell short in what could be her final game as a player.

( With inputs from ANI )