Coco Gauff has one regret that she may never be able to get over.

The 19-year-old made her first US Open final with a straight-sets win over Karolina Muchova, becoming the youngest American to reach the final at the Grand Slam since Serena Williams did it in 1999 at age 17. Williams went on to win the first of her 23 major singles titles.

So it seems a little bit like fate that, one year after Williams retired at the US Open, another American is following in her footsteps. Gauff became the first American teenager to reach the US Open semifinals since Williams in 2001.

And both Gauff and U.S. men’s player Ben Shelton, 20, have made more history. This year marked the first time multiple Americans aged 20 or younger have made it to the semifinals of the same Grand Slam since Venus and Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2000.

Yet while some might see Gauff as the face and the future of American tennis, she is in excellent company. At this year’s US Open, multiple Americans have made deep runs — including 28-year-old Madison Keys, who lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the other semifinal.

“I don’t think I’m carrying American tennis. I don’t think I will,” Gauff told ESPN. “We have so many compatriots who are doing well.

“Serena is Serena. She’s the GOAT. I’d hope to do half of what she did. But I’m not gonna compare myself to her. She’s someone I look up to. Being in the same stat line as her means a lot to me. She’s my idol.”

Still, Gauff – who never once played against Williams professionally – has just one regret.

“The only regret I’ll have for the rest of my life is not being able to play her,” she said. “There were so many tournaments where if we won an extra round and didn’t lose, I would’ve played her. I’m still happy to just be a product of her legacy.”

Naomi Osaka is planning to stay busy in 2024.

The four-time Grand Slam champion gave birth to her first child, daughter Shai, in July. While she has not played in 2023, she plans to make her comeback next year — and when she does, she wants to up her game.

Osaka, 25, aims to make her return at the Australian Open, she told ESPN on Wednesday. And from there, she will be playing in “way more tournaments than I used to play.”

“I think some people will be happy with that,” she said, noting that she trained as much as she could during pregnancy, including hitting with Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf.

“I think it’s because I realized that I don’t know how the beginning of the year is going to go for me. I don’t know the level of play and I think I have to ease into it. So at the very least, I’m going to set myself up for a very good end of the year.”

The former world No. 1 has won the Australian Open twice, including her most recent major title in 2021. Osaka said that her pregnancy, which she announced at the beginning of this year, helped her realize that she “definitely” missed competing.

“I’ve been watching matches and I’m like, ‘I wish I was playing too,’” Osaka said. “But I’m in this position now and I’m very grateful. I really love my daughter a lot, but I think it really fueled a fire in me.”

Jessica Pegula set the record straight after getting eliminated from the US Open singles tournament on Monday.

The No. 3-ranked player lost in straight sets to fellow American and World No. 17 Madison Keys in the Round of 16. During her post-match press conference, Pegula responded directly to a journalist, refuting a tweet by The Tennis Podcast that she had left the court crying.

“Were you guys the ones that tweeted that I cried when I walked off the court?” she asked. “Someone said I walked off the court in tears. I most definitely was not crying.

“It just sounded really sad and I was like, ‘I definitely wasn’t crying. I just got waxed in like an hour. I gotta go play dubs [doubles] in an hour.’”

Later on Monday, The Tennis Podcast tweeted a clarification, saying it had erred in assuming Pegula was crying when she touched her eye.

Not longer after the loss to Keys, Pegula returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium with doubles partner Coco Gauff. The Americans defeated Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse in straight sets to advance to the women’s doubles quarterfinals.

Pegula will also play in the mixed doubles quarterfinal on Tuesday with partner Austin Krajicek as the top-ranked mixed doubles team.

Iga Swiatek’s US Open run has come to an end.

The defending champion and world No. 1 lost in three sets in the Round of 16 Sunday to Jelena Ostapenko, who remains undefeated against Swiatek in her career. The loss means that Swiatek’s stay atop the WTA world rankings will end next week. Current No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka will overtake the top spot for the first time.

“I don’t know why I played that bad,” Swiatek said. “I’m not happy with my performances on hard courts this year. But overall, I did a pretty good job at maintaining my level. I’m happy I’m going to have time to practice because I miss that.

“I feel like I’m progressing as a player, but I have more skills. This season was tough and intense.”

Swiatek’s 75 consecutive weeks atop the world rankings in her first stint ranks third in history. Only Steffi Graf (186 weeks) and Martina Hingis (80 weeks) were atop the rankings for longer.

According to OptaJack, during that time Swiatek also holds the record for WTA titles (nine), finals (12), matches won (97), winning ratio (85.5 percent) and top-10 defeats (17).

“I wouldn’t say [I feel] relief,” Swiatek said, when asked about relinquishing the top spot in the rankings. “There are plenty of things that I know I should have done differently. Maybe I’m not mature enough yet to do that. I’m really working hard to not think about this stuff a lot.

“Sometimes when you force yourself not to think about stuff, the result is the opposite. I’m really happy that I have smart people around me and they are telling me how to do it, and they are guiding me. But it’s on me to actually make it happen.”

Still, the 22-year-old Polish star said that the next time she tops the rankings, she will do some things differently.

“Because yeah, it was a little bit stressful,” Swiatek said. “And it shouldn’t be. I mean, tennis is stressful overall, but I should embrace it a little bit more. And I’ll do it differently next time.”

Caroline Wozniacki is back playing tennis – and she’s back to winning.

In just her third event since coming out of retirement, Wozniacki downed world No. 11 Petra Kvitova at the US Open. It’s her first top-20 win as a mom, and her first win over a top-20 opponent since beating Kvitova in 2018.

“This couldn’t be better,” Wozniacki said after the match. “It’s a dream come true. If you had asked me three years ago, I would have said I’ll never be back here, playing on this court. To be back and to beat the world No. 11 feels very, very special.”

She’s now into the third round at Flushing Meadows, a place where she’s found success throughout her career. She finished as the runner-up at the US Open in 2009, when she lost to Kim Clijsters, and again in 2014, when she lost to good friend Serena Williams.

Her 122 major match wins in her career is the fourth-most among active women, behind Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Kvitova, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Wozniacki plans to hang out with her kids Thursday before preparing to face Jennifer Brady in the third round Friday.

“I love New York. I love this court. I love everything about this city and playing here,” Wozniacki said. “Absolutely, as soon as I came here over a week ago, I already — instantly — felt so comfortable on these courts and knew that I could play some great tennis and I would be dangerous in the draw.”

She also noted that she was “thrilled” to once again have the opportunity to play in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“I didn’t think I was ever going to play on one of those courts again in the US Open, especially a night session,” she said. “It just feels pretty incredible to be out there and winning a match like that.”

Laura Siegemund hit back at the US Open crowd for showing her a lack of respect during her three-set loss to Coco Gauff in the first round of the Grand Slam tournament.

During the match, each player approached the chair umpire at least once with complaints. Siegemund did so twice, including after she received a time violation in the third set. Siegemund repeatedly took her time getting ready both on and off the serve, to which the American Gauff took offense and the crowd responded by booing.

“They treated me like I was a bad person,” Siegemund said of the fans during her post-match press conference. “Would I enjoy it more if you played a great shot and the people would scream and give you the respect you deserved for your performance in that moment? Yes, you enjoy it more.”

At different points during the match, the fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium made noises during Siegemund’s serves, calling “Time!” when she ran down the serve clock.

Siegemund complained to umpire Marijana Veljovic about the crowd, but there wasn’t much to be done.

“I never did anything against the audience,” she said. “I stayed calm. I never made — not even a gesture — against the audience. And they had no respect for me. They had no respect for the way I played. They have no respect for the player that I am. They have no respect for tennis, for good tennis. This is something that I have to say hurts really bad.”

Siegemund, a 35-year-old German and two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, said she was proud of how she played the match.

“As a tennis player, you are a performer,” she said. “You owe the people. … At the end of the day I go home and I look at myself and I can say I did a great job. But did I get anything from the people for that? I didn’t.

“They treated me bad. They treated me like I was a cheater. Like I was trying sneaky ways to win this match or something. They treated me like I was a bad person. But you know there are people who are throwing racquets, who are screaming, who are like making bad gestures toward the audience. I did not one moment in the whole match, and there was a lot of tension going on. Not one moment I did anything.

“I was just slow. That’s something in the rules, I get my time violation, that’s fine.”

Following the match, Gauff — who went viral for approaching the umpire — said she didn’t regret her response and wished she had said something about Siegemund’s delay tactics earlier. Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were in attendance for the match, and Gauff said Michelle praised her afterward speaking up for herself.

“I wasn’t sure if I was in the right or not until it, like, happened multiple times. Then I was like, OK, I know I’m in the right,” the 19-year-old said. “For me, I try my best not to let my emotions take over myself. I wanted to express my frustration but also being censored. … I was trying to best communicate how I was feeling to the referee. … I’d still say everything I said in that moment again.”

Gauff is moving onto the third round of the US Open after defeating Mirra Andreeva in straight sets on Wednesday.

Coco Gauff cracked jokes Monday night following her tense win in the first round of the US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

When asked how she would describe the match, Gauff responded with one word: “Slow.” Then she broke into a smile.

No. 6 seed Gauff and qualifier Laura Siegemund butted heads over the pace of play throughout the entirety of the nearly three-hour match. Tempers boiled over in the third set, when Gauff approached the umpire to express her frustrations over Siegemund dawdling both on and off the serve.

“She’s never ready when I’m serving,” Gauff protested. “She went over to talk like four times. You gave her a time violation once. How is this fair? … I’m going a normal speed. Ask any ref here. … I’ve been quiet the whole match. … Now it’s ridiculous. I don’t care what she’s doing on her serve, but [on] my serve, she has to be ready.”

While Gauff wound up dropping that game, Siegemund later was docked a point for delaying the game by going to her towel – a penalty that she then protested. Still, the penalty helped widen Gauff’s lead in the third set, and the 19-year-old would go on to win the third set and take the match, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Afterward, Gauff explained her frustrations, noting that while Siegemund had been going over time “since the first set,” Gauff remained patient despite the umpire not taking action. Eventually, though, it reached to the point where the crowd started to chime in and yell “time” whenever Siegemund ran over.

While Gauff said she doesn’t “like confrontation all that much,” in the third set the situation became too much to ignore. If she could do the match over again, she “would’ve said something earlier,” but she doesn’t regret talking to the ref the way that she did.

“I wasn’t sure if I was in the right or not until it, like, happened multiple times,” Gauff said, referring to Siegemund’s delay tactics between points. “Then I was like, OK, I know I’m in the right. … For me, I try my best not to let my emotions take over myself. I wanted to express my frustration but also being censored. … I was trying to best communicate how I was feeling to the referee. … I’d still say everything I said in that moment again.”

This could be Coco Gauff’s moment – finally.

Ever since defeating Venus Williams in the opening round of 2019 Wimbledon, Gauff has been touted as the United States’ next big thing. Now, after winning the Washington Open, her first WTA 500 singles title, she enters the U.S. Open with plenty of momentum.

Can the 19-year-old capture her first Grand Slam championship? Just Women’s Sports breaks down what the path could look like, taking the top possible seed for each matchup.

Laura Siegemund

Siegemund punched her ticket to the main draw with a qualifying win on Friday. She defeated Oceane Dodin, 1-6, 6-0, 6-3. Siegemund advanced to the Warsaw Open final in July, but lost to Iga Swiatek.

Mirra Andreeva

Gauff will likely challenge Andreeva, ranked the No. 63 player in the world. Andreeva plays Olivia Gadecki in her opening match. In her last action, Andreeva, who is unseeded, was defeated by Sloane Stephens, 3-6, 3-6, in the Round of 16 of Tennis in the Land.

Danielle Collins

Gauff could end up against Collins, another American, in the third round. The world’s No. 34-ranked player, Collins is also unseeded for the U.S. Open. She recently won her first WTA doubles title, alongside Desirae Krawczyk, at the Charleston Open. Collins was defeated in the first round of the French Open by Jessica Pegula.

Petra Kvitova

Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledown champion, could provide Gauff a stiff test in the fourth round. In April, she won the Miami Open, defeating Elena Rybakina in straight sets, the 30th title of her career. The victory earned Kvitkova a top-10 ranking for the first time since September 2021, and she enters the U.S. Open ranked No. 11 in the world.

Iga Swiatek

This could be the turning point of Gauff’s tournament. In this round, she would be likely to play Swiatek, the world’s top-ranked player and the defending U.S. Open champion. Swiatek is also a three-time French Open winner (2020, 2022, 2023).

This would be a rematch of the Cincinnati Open semifinal earlier this month, when Gauff beat Swiatek for the first time after seven previous defeats. Gauff had lost all 14 sets she’d played against Swiatek entering the most recent match.

Elena Rybakina

Rybakina has had a strong 2023 season, with titles at the Indian Wells Open and the Italian Open. This would be her first matchup against Gauff. Ranked No. 4 in the world, Rybakina did not compete in the Cincinnati Open because of some nagging injuries she attributed to poor scheduling.

Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka, the world’s No. 2 player, enters the U.S. Open with high expectations. She kicked off the year with an Australian Open singles title, and with a victory over Gauff, would solidify herself as the top player on the tour. Gauff will look to atone for her loss to Sabalenka earlier this year at Indian Wells.

When Jessica Pegula won the Canadian Open over Liudmila Samsonova on Sunday night, she also had to overcome a recent foe: “Cotton-Eye Joe.”

In Saturday’s semifinal win against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, Pegula played through the song, which broke out mid-point in a set she eventually lost. She overcame the lost set to win the match, 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-4, and then beat Samsonova in straight sets to take the title in Montreal.

She would hear “Cotton-Eye Joe” once again after that win, thanks to a bit of humor from whoever controls the in-stadium speakers.

“I lost a lot of points consecutively after ‘Cotton-Eye Joe’ came on [in the semifinals], so I’m glad I got over the ‘Cotton-Eye Joe’ jinx or whatever you want to call it,” Pegula said after her title win. “It was almost my downfall yesterday, but not anymore.”

The victory ended an impressive run for Pegula, who also toppled Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals. She became the first American to win the event since Serena Williams in 2013.

“I feel like I did enough to where I could just play freely,” she said. “It was a good day. … Winning a week like this week makes it all worth it and makes you want to keep going for more. I’ll be right back at it tomorrow in Cincinnati.”

Afterward, Pegula took to Instagram, where she dedicated her win to her dog Dex, who passed away earlier this summer.

“From two weeks ago crying on my couch for days wondering how the hell I was going to start this swing — to this week — this one’s for you Dex, thanks for looking out for me down here,” she wrote.

Jessica Pegula stunned world No. 1 Iga Świątek in the semifinals of the Canadian Open on Saturday, beating the Polish star, 6-2 6-7(4) 6-4.

Amid the drama, however, was a moment of mass confusion at center court: As Swiatek reached for the ball, in the second set tiebreak, the opening notes to “Cotton-Eyed Joe” played through the sound system. The fans gasped.

“I just thought it was funny,” Pegula told reporters afterward. “I’ve never had that happen, let alone with ‘Cotton-Eye Joe.’ I was like: ‘Is this really happening right now?’ Of all the songs. It was just like: ‘What is going on?’

Pegula wore a look of astonishment as the referee announced the point would need to be replayed.

“It was a bummer because I hit a really good lob and she barely got it, and I had a really good play on the ball, and she was kind of out of position from the lob that I hit,” Pegula said.

Świątek went on to win the next 12 points and leveled the match at one set each. But Pegula rallied and won 16 of the last 19 points of the match to seal the victory – Pegula’s send over Świątek this year.

Pegula will play the winner of the match between Elena Rybakina or Liudmila Samsonova in the final Sunday evening. She would be the first American winner of the tournament since Serena Williams in 2013.

This time, hopefully, the match won’t be interrupted by a horrifyingly catchy country folk dance ballad from the 19th century.