Mats Wilander throws ‘warning flag’ for Coco Gauff ahead of Karolina Muchova challenge at US Open

Mats Wilander, has issued a "warning flag" ahead of the semi-final match

Mats Wilander throws ‘warning flag’ for Coco Gauff ahead of Karolina Muchova challenge at US Open

Coco Gauff (L), Mats Wilander(Centre) and Karolina Muchova (R) (Credits: Sky Sports, Reuters and USOpen.org)

Coco Gauff is two wins away from realizing her dream of winning a maiden Grand Slam on home soil at the US Open. The 19-year-old upset Jelena Ostapenko on Tuesday to advance to the semi-finals against Karolina Muchova. However, her coach, Mats Wilander, has issued a “warning flag” ahead of the match. Gauff has been advised to put her “thinking cap on” when facing the tough Czech.

On Tuesday, the 19-year-old American defeated Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets to get to the semifinals of her home Grand Slam for the first time.
It was a strong performance against the Latvian, who had previously eliminated top seed Iga Swiatek in the previous round.

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Even though Gauff won her first WTA 1000 title by defeating Muchova in the Cincinnati final two weeks ago in straight sets, she has been advised to use caution when playing the Roland-Garros runner-up

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“I have to throw a warning flag. Even though Coco beat her in Cincinnati, Muchova has the game that can assess the situation, play risky tennis, realize it doesn’t work, and then do something different,” Wilander told Eurosport.

He further mentioned that even as a 19 year old this is an opportunity she needs to take.

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Alex Corretja Praises Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff (Credits: Pople Magazine)
Coco Gauff (Credits: Pople Magazine)

Both Gauff and Muchova are vying for their first Grand Slam championship in New York. The American last year and the Czech this year both came close to winning the French Open finals before being defeated by Swiatek.

Fellow Eurosport expert and former tennis player Alex Corretja was impressed by Gauff’s performance against Ostapenko, where the sixth seed dropped just two games in a 6-0 6-2 win. “One-way traffic for Coco Gauff,” said Corretja.

He was quoted as saying that the way she played it—the way she entered the court knowing she had to defend—was extremely brilliant. He further added that she was running, getting height, and hassling balls, and Ostapenko couldn’t feel the ball at all. The Spaniard said that one could feel the difference between day and night sessions as the balls were flying too high. He added, “All credit to Coco Gauff; it’s an amazing achievement.” 

The other semi-finals will take place on Wednesday, as Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova will face Madison Keys, while Qinwen Zheng will face second seed Aryna Sabalenka.

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