Cori “Coco” Gauff had fans on the edges of their Louis Armstrong Stadium seats on Thursday for her 6-2, 6-4,6-4 win over Timea Babos. But before her third-round singles match against No. 1 ranked Naomi Osaka, Gauff will team up with Caty McNally for her first round of US Open doubles.
It was déjà vu all over again for the 15-year-old tennis sensation. Gauff and Babos were tied 4-4 in the third set of a hard fought match — just like her first round battle against Anastasia Potapova. And just like her first round match, Gauff dug deep to pull out the win.
Gauff is the youngest singles player to advance to round three of the US Open since Anna Kournakova in 1996. Guaff’s win over Babos, however, wasn’t pretty. It even included a full-on face plant. But it is a victory that had the entire stadium chanting “Coco! Coco!” in the match’s aftermath.
🔊🆙 "COCO! COCO! COCO!"
Fans chanted 15-year-old @CocoGauff's name after she advanced to the third round of the #USOpen pic.twitter.com/w91o6YR69H
— ESPN (@espn) August 30, 2019
McCoco Doubles Today, Coco vs Osaka Tomorrow
Gauff is clearly the underdog going into her next singles match. Gauff (+250) will take on the No. 1 seed Naomi Osaka (-330) on Saturday, Aug 31. But she won’t get much time to dwell on that today.
Gauff and her partner Caty McNally — the duo playfully referred to as McCoco — will take on Julia Goerges and Katerina Siniakova in their first round doubles match. McNally failed to advance in her round one singles match. But that’s understandable. The 17-year-old McNally took the first match 7-5 against the veteran Serena Williams. After that, it was all Williams.
Gauff and McNally have successfully partnered in doubles in the past. Last year, they won the US Open Girls’ Doubles Championship. Last month they won their first WTA doubles title in the Citi Open.
Betting on Coco (and other Women’s Doubles)
Women’s tennis is a favorite among pro sports bettors. Looking at some of the odds, you can understand why. Here are a few interesting matchups, according to bwin:
Caty McNally / Coco Gauff (+130)
Julia Goerges / Katerina Siniakova (-175)
Timea Babos / Kristina Mladenovic (-1667)
Jessica Moore / Giuliana Olmos (+700)
Ons Jabeur / Fanny Stollar (+450)
Lucie Hradecka / Andreja Klepac (-769)
Karolina Muchova / Jill Teichman (+140)
Cornelia Lister / Renata Voracova (-189)
Danielle Collins / Ellen Perez (+270)
Samantha Stosur / Shuai Zhang (-400)
