Coco Gauff produced one of the gutsiest wins of her career at Arthur Ashe, recovering from a shaky start to beat fellow French Open champion Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 and reach her second US Open semifinal. Both players had an identical number of unforced errors, 42, displaying that it came down to who made the least number of errors in the end. It was Coco Gauff in the end, who just made two unforced errors in the decider, while Andreeva made 14. Let’s break down the win in moments that helped Gauff reach her second US Open semifinal.

1. The comeback inspired by fellow American

Gauff’s turnaround did not come from a tactical adjustment alone. In her on-court interview, she said that she was inspired by another American after struggling through the first set with 14 unforced errors. 

“I think I just had to reset. I came out not feeling the ball, giving her too many free points, and Andreeva was playing a great level,” she said. “But honestly, I was thinking about Frances Tiafoe and how he came back yesterday. So you all want to do well in front of this crowd. I was just trying to literally leave the court with no regrets.”

2. Andreeva’s frustration boils over at the changeover

After Gauff broke to open the third set with two unforced errors from Andreeva, the Russian could not contain her frustration heading into the changeover, hurling her racket into her bag with enough force that it ricocheted out, sending other rackets flying and narrowly missing a courtside cameraman. It was the first moment when the Russian showed a burst of emotion, and from there she completely lost control of the match. 

3. Two match points saved in the tiebreak

Serving to close out the second set, Andreeva had Gauff on the brink twice. The American saved the first with a grueling 21-shot rally, then saved a second match point soon after in another extended exchange before finally converting her own second set point to level the match.

It came after a tiebreak that had already produced a 39-shot rally, ended by a Gauff backhand drop shot winner, and a 19-shot rally that Gauff lost in visible frustration, before immediately winning a 23-shot rally in the very next point to fire herself back up.

This is a developing story…