Gauff beats Svitolina to keep title defence alive

USA’s Coco Gauff is ecstatic after her win on Friday. Pic/AFP

Coco Gauff survived late-match drama to keep her US Open title defence alive with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Elina Svitolina on Friday.

Gauff's third-set surge had carried her to triple match point at 5-2, but she delivered a pair of double faults and Svitolina saved another with a blazing backhand on the way to a break. But Gauff broke Svitolina at love in the next game to lock up the win in a tense physical encounter that featured one 37-shot rally.

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Gauff regrouped after a rocky end to the first set saw Svitolina break at love for a 5-3 lead and pocket the opener with a love game.

Gauff had fans in Arthur Ashe on the edge of their seats, but Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton brought them to their feet in a five-set, four-hour thriller that Tiafoe won 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3. It was a dogfight between the young American rivals.

Shelton gained the upper hand with a dramatic third-set tiebreak victory, taking a 6-0 lead only for Tiafoe to win five straight points before Shelton closed out the set with a 143 mph ace.

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