Coco Gauff plays a stress-free match at the US Open to beat Magdalena Frech and reach the 4th round

NEW YORK AP For the first time at this U S Open Coco Gauff didn t double-fault in her first provision challenge And for the first time she didn t get broken to begin things either With her work-in-progress serve looking the best it has so far in this trip to Flushing Meadows the No -seeded Gauff turned in by far her majority of solid and stress-free performance Saturday defeating No Magdalena Frech of Poland - - to reach the fourth round of a tournament she won in It s been like an emotional week but I think I needed those tough moments to move forward commented Gauff who will face four-time major champion Naomi Osaka or No Daria Kasatkina on Monday for a berth in the quarterfinals I was putting too much pressure on myself After two challenging wins under the lights at night in Arthur Ashe Stadium Gauff got the schedule started with an a m match With shade covering nearly half of the blue court on a cloudless morning there were none of the tears or struggles that marked her earlier appearances It was kind of hard to see the ball Gauff declared but overall I m happy with the way I played In both of her earlier outings against Ajla Tomljanovic on Tuesday and Donna Vekic on Thursday Gauff fell behind - Against Frech the -year-old from Florida went up - before running into a hint of trouble Gauff slapped a second serve into the net to double-fault and get broken getting Frech within - and soon it was -all after minutes So essentially they were starting over and the next challenge was pivotal Gauff led -love but wound up at - after shanking a forehand that landed feet out Thousands of fans started yelling encouragement and clapping to try to help Gauff She heard looked around and clutched a ball for her next serve vigorously shaking it Gauff stepped to the baseline and delivered a mph first serve that drew an errant return Upon watching the ball land out she leaned forward clenched her left fist and screamed Come on That began a set-closing three-game run and Gauff was on her way Her serve has become a major issue which is why she brought aboard a biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan who helped Aryna Sabalenka settle her serving yips and rise to No in the WTA rankings with three major championships including in New York a year ago Gauff s title defense at the U S Open in ended with a fourth-round loss in which she had double-faults She has been the worst athlete on the women s tour in that category this season and reached a low point with in a triumph at Montreal last month and more in her next match In the wins against Tomljanovic and Vekic Gauff totaled double-faults and lost of the games she served What got her through those was the rest of her challenge returning defending and a clear superiority once the ball was in play Those last three areas were again strengths for Gauff She broke Frech five times and was terrific whenever their baseline exchanges lasted more than four shots taking of those points She also made only unforced errors and claimed the point on of her times at the net All eyes were on Gauff s serve of module and that exhibited quite an improvement on Saturday four double-faults and just the one break She put in of her first serves while averaging mph with a high of mph