After a grueling battle of over two hours with Mirra Andreeva, Coco Gauff came out on top by taking the match 2-6, 7-6, 6-2. But before she dominated in the 3rd set, it was all tense and frustrating. And all Gauff could do after the game was apologize to her team.

“I know sometimes I give them a hard time, but I think, you know, when I’m just stressed out… thank you, guys, for the energy. Sorry for what was said. I think they’re too tired,” she said in her post-match interview on court.

Coco Gauff’s US Open semifinal dream looked in serious trouble when Mirra Andreeva took control from the very beginning. The Russian raced on with a 4-0 lead in 12 minutes as Gauff struggled to find any rhythm with her serve or forehand.

Gauff finished the opening set with 14 unforced errors, while Andreeva had just 5. The American also landed only 43% of her first serves, allowing Andreeva to control most of the exchanges.

By the time Andreeva won the set 6-2 in 26 minutes, Coco Gauff already looked visibly frustrated.

That frustration did not disappear when the second set began, even though Gauff finally found an opening.

She broke Andreeva to move ahead 4-2, but immediately gave that advantage away with another shaky service game. The American kept committing double faults and loose errors, allowing Andreeva to collect points without having to struggle much.

Gauff eventually finished with 12 double faults and 42 unforced errors, numbers that showed how difficult the afternoon had been. Even after breaking Andreeva, Gauff still could not make the second set feel like it was in her control.

Then came the tiebreak, and suddenly Gauff was fighting to keep her tournament alive. Andreeva moved within 2 points of victory after taking a 5-3 lead, before earning 2 match points. Gauff refused to let the match end, pushing forward and making Andreeva work.

The teen missed those chances, while Gauff took the tiebreak 9-7 to level the match. That escape gave Gauff something she had lacked for much of the afternoon, a reason to believe she could still win.

And that difference became clear almost immediately in the third set.

Coco Gauff carried the confidence from that tiebreak, while Andreeva suddenly began looking less certain with her shots. She moved ahead 3-1 before breaking again, and Andreeva’s frustration became increasingly difficult to hide. What had looked like an Andreeva-controlled match after one set suddenly looked very different.

Gauff then finished the job without giving Andreeva any opening to change the result.

She took the third set 6-2, completing a comeback after being pushed to the edge. This win showed that Gauff’s best tennis was not present for most of the afternoon, but her ability to stay alive has taken her to another semifinal.

Even with all the struggles, Gauff was able to come back. And that is perhaps the biggest thing Gauff should take from this match before facing Rybakina.

Elena Rybakina, who now sits at the top of the WTA rankings, will be going against Gauff. The American can’t afford a start where her serve and forehand give away easy points to her opponents. Rybakina will likely punish those openings much more, making Gauff’s early control important.

The Andreeva match showed that Coco Gauff can recover when things go wrong, but a 2nd chance rarely comes knocking at the door. Against the new world No. 1, she will need to find her form from the very first serve.