Coco Gauff rallied to defeat Donna Vekic 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in the US Open third round after a tense first set marked by seven double-faults and multiple lost service games. Gauff became emotional down 5-4 but recovered to win the set and then the match. Simone Biles attended the match, and Gauff said watching Biles helped calm her, comparing performing under pressure on a six-inch beam to hitting tennis shots. The two met after the match, Gauff FaceTimed her mother so Biles could say hello, and Gauff will next face Magdalena Frech in the fourth round.
"I saw her and honestly I don't know if she's up there," Gauff said. "But she helped me pull it out. I was just thinking if she can go on a six-inch beam and do that with all the pressures in the world then I can hit the ball ... It brought me a little bit of calm."
"Like seriously, what I said in the interview, I was thinking about that literally," Gauff said.
"Oh, that's so sweet," Biles responded.
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