The current US Open winner, Coco Gauff, was unintentionally made fun of by some children.

In her fourth-round match against fellow American Emma Navarro on Monday (AEST), the third-seeded American was aware that she was having a rough day, but at her lowest point, she didn’t need a bunch of kids to remind her of that.

As Gauff was serving to tie the match at 3–5, a group of kids descended to the foot of the grandstand to set up a post-match signing session, just as the team was about to suffer a shocking loss.

When a match is about to end, security will typically allow that to occur, but it is not common for it to occur at the beginning of a game in which the team that is likely to lose is serving.

Booed for “disgusting arrogance” toward ball boy, US Open seed
But when Gauff didn’t like it, they had to be escorted out.Regards: ESPN

Neither Fowler nor his co-commentator, former world No. 1 Chris Evert, were fond of the hasty decision.

“Coco investigates, gives them a kind of cold stare, and hangs up.” It’s not hip,” Fowler went on.

“The guards should prevent that from happening,” Evert continued.

Gauff gave herself a moment to gather her thoughts as the children were escorted out of security once more.

Unfortunately for her, though, the kids’ implied guess proved to be accurate a few minutes later as she lost the match 6-3 4-6 6-3 after having her serve broken.

Gauff’s dismal performance, which featured 19 double faults compared to 14 for the victors, was too much to overcome.

World No. 12 Navarro was much more steady on Sunday. He also defeated Gauff in the Wimbledon fourth round in July.

The 20-year-old Gauff had won ten straight games at Flushing Meadows, including the race to win her first grand slam championship the previous year.

However, this was just the most recent in a string of early eliminations for her elevated standards in recent weeks, which also included losing in the third round of the Olympics in Paris and finishing 1-2 in hard-court tune-up matches prior to traveling to New York.

Gauff returned to the practice courts to hone her serve after her last two competitions in New York.

That was of little use on Sunday. She committed eleven double faults in the last set alone.

Her troubles were “more of an emotional, mental thing,” according to her description.

“Because I could make like thirty serves in a row if I went out on the practice court right now.” I’ve done it previously,” she remarked.

In addition, I believe that it’s merely a mental obstacle that I must overcome. However, I do not want to lose matches in this manner going forward, so I do want to consider other options.

Apart from such problems, Gauff committed 60 unforced errors in all, the most of which were on her forehand side, which is also her weakest point.

This result means that no one will win consecutive titles in New York for a long time, as evidenced by the unexpected third-round loss suffered by the reigning men’s champion Novak Djokovic on Friday night.

Roger Federer, with five from 2004–08, was the last male to win at least two in a row; Serena Williams, with three from 2012–14, was the last woman to do so.

Navarro, the University of Virginia’s 2021 NCAA singles winner, had her first participation in a major quarterfinal after defeating Gauff at Wimbledon.

She will face Paula Badosa, the No. 26 seed, on Tuesday in New York. Badosa defeated Wang Yafan 6-1, 6-2.

That will provide Navarro with another opportunity to perform in front of a large crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. It wasn’t until Sunday that she had struck a ball there that she felt comfortable and at ease.

“I’ve experienced complete overwhelm and a near-out-of-body feeling when I’ve been on large courts before. However, that’s not how I felt today,” Navarro remarked.

“I was a little taken aback by how at ease I felt as soon as I went onto the court. I guess I had mentally prepared myself for the worst, feeling anxious and overpowered.”