NEW YORK, Aug 30: Fifteen-year-old American sensation Coco Gauff set up an eye-catching US Open showdown with defending champion Naomi Osaka while Rafael Nadal�s path to the title eased further on Thursday as he received a walkover into the third round.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, meanwhile, crashed out early in New York for a third year running, blowing a match point in a tense three-set loss to 116th-ranked Taylor Townsend.
Gauff, who made a remarkable run to the fourth round at Wimbledon before falling to Halep, defeated Hungarian qualifier Timea Babos 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to become the youngest player in the last 32 at a US Open since Anna Kournikova in 1996.
�It has been amazing. I�m just so happy to get through,� Gauff said as chants of her name rang out around Louis Armstrong Stadium.
�I had to dig really deep today. I�m just proud of the way I fought and I�m glad it was all worth it in the end.� Asked about her impending clash with world number one Osaka, Gauff said her primary focus was on Friday�s doubles match with 17-year-old partner Caty McNally.
�Saturday, I�m going to think about the match, but tomorrow (Friday) I�m worried about my doubles match,� she said.
Three-time US Open champion Nadal advanced without striking a ball when injury-plagued Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis pulled out of their scheduled evening tie on Arthur Ashe with a right shoulder problem.
The Spanish 18-time Grand Slam winner will meet South Korean qualifier Chung Hyeon for a spot in the last 16.
His path to a fourth title, already helped with �Big Three� rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on the opposite side of the draw, cleared further having already seen four top-10 rivals dumped out in the first round.
Alexander Zverev, the sixth seed, is the highest-ranked player remaining on his side of the draw, as the German survived a second successive five-set marathon by outlasting American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 to equal his best US Open run.
Townsend upended women�s fourth seed Halep 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), the Romanian consigned to another premature exit at Flushing Meadows, having been knocked out in the opening round in 2017 and 2018.
�I was not inspired at all today, but I fought. I thought when I came back that I will take it and I will win it. But sometimes it goes the other way,� Halep said.
Townsend recovered from wasting two match points to then save one and force a tie-break she dominated to claim her first win over a top-10 player.
�This means a lot. It has been a long journey,� said a tearful Townsend, who matched her run to the French Open third round on her Grand Slam debut in 2014.
Top seed Osaka proved too strong for 53rd-ranked Magda Linette of Poland, sweeping to a 6-2, 6-4 victory.
�I feel like I had my moments where I played really well,� Osaka said.
�I think the main thing for me was that I was able to adjust whenever I figured out something was going wrong, so I think I�m heading in the right direction.�
Among the celebrities watching her match at Louis Armstrong Stadium were basketball legend Kobe Bryant and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose kneeling protest became a national symbol for champions of social justice and racial equality.
�I�m really grateful they came out,� Osaka said.
�It�s really cool. I honestly just wanted to finish as fast as possible because I didn�t want them to be out in the sun too long.�
Men�s fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, coming off a maiden Masters title in Cincinnati, was struck down by cramp during a 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 win over Bolivia�s Hugo Dellien.
�I�m not sure what happened today and why I started cramping suddenly,� Medvedev said.
�I obviously thought at one point �How did I win?�. I don�t know how I did.� Stan Wawrinka, the 2016 US Open champion, beat Jeremy Chardy in four sets and is on a fourth-round collision course with Djokovic, while Australian 28th seed Nick Kyrgios rolled past 104th-ranked French wildcard Antoine Hoang 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
Andrea Petkovic knocked out Czech sixth seed Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-4, while 15th seed Bianca Andreescu and two-time runner-up Caroline Wozniacki also progressed. � AFP
