Coco Gauff v Carolina Garcia: Blockbuster US Open quarter-final pits home hope against red-hot Frenchwoman

The home hope against the form player, Coco Gauff’s US Open quarter-final showdown with Caroline Garcia has deservedly been handed the primetime slot on Tuesday at Flushing Meadows.

The pair will face off at 7pm local time, a midnight start in the UK, and it has all the ingredients for a potential classic on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“I will not say something very special can happen. I will say we were probably saying, ‘Good things can happen again’,” said Garcia, when explaining what has gone so right this summer.

“Bad Homburg was the first tournament I won this year. The first round was three sets, I lost the first set 6-2 and I was not playing good at all, trust me.

“At one moment you just say to yourself, ‘You have to go for it’. You miss, you miss, but you have to do something. You have to change, you have to find a way to improve. And I think that tournament was really the week a lot of things changed.

“I went for it. I didn’t know if it was going to work, but I believe and we believe with the team that it was a good way to do so and improve from that point.”

Previewing the match-up, Gauff said former world No. 4 Garcia is evidently playing her best tennis for some time.

“She’s obviously a great player, even though she’s had ups and downs. I think right now she’s playing probably the best tennis in a long time,” Gauff said.

“It’s going to be a challenge. When you play these players that are hot, I think it’s more of a mental challenge. You’ve just got to accept she’s going to hit some great shots, because I know she will.

“I think my mentality has been great. I played I feel like two similar opponents, Maddie Keys, who can hit some unbelievable shots from the wings. Same with Zhang Shuai today. She was hitting some great shots. I think I was doing a good job of accepting it, clapping my hands, moving on to the next point. I think I’m going to have to do that for the next match.”

Could Arthur Ashe crowd have a say?

There is no doubting which player will have the majority of support on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“I think I’m feeding off the momentum a lot. I enjoy it. I think New York is bringing out a side of me that I haven’t had since I was 15, so it’s nice,” said Gauff, who has played all of her matches on the main show court so far.

“At a changeover people were saying, ‘Let’s go, Coco’. I was literally trying not to smile. Well, I guess I could have ended up smiling. My coach says I need to smile more often. I could have.

“I was, like, ‘I’ve got to stay in the zone’. Inside I was trying my hardest not to smile. This is a surreal moment for me, on Arthur Ashe Stadium people are chanting my game. I feel like I’m at an NBA game.

“That’s a special thing about tennis. You go to a football game or an NBA game, people are chanting the team’s name. That’s great as a player. For you to have the whole crowd chanting your name specifically is something I won’t take for granted.”

Garcia, meanwhile, is relishing the match against an American player on Arthur Ashe, and having had home support at Roland-Garros herself, she knows what to expect – even if on this occasion the majority will be against her.

“I never played a big American player on Ashe, so [it’s] definitely going to be the first time,” said Garcia.

“As a French player, I know that in Roland-Garros, the crowd, it can be loud and everything. Obviously I know it’s going to be the other way around. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a great experience.

“I will get myself ready. I will have my little team behind me. That’s the most important, the people you care about who have been supporting you. I will be hearing voices, and that’s the most important [thing].

“And it’s a great challenge. I’m not going to complain to play Ashe against an American girl in a quarter-final.”