The crowd wanted Coco Gauff but got Elena Rybakina instead

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Don’t let them tell you the crowd doesn’t care about the tennis . At the very least, they care about tennis players. Or a tennis player. They care about Coco.

The crowd at the US Open women’s semifinals wanted to watch Coco Gauff – a charismatic American star with a buoyant athleticism that belies her strength and an even more buoyant affect that belies her depth – win.

After Jessica Pegula fell to Aryna Sabalenka earlier in the evening, Gauff was the only American woman remaining in the tournament. But the enthusiasm for Gauff goes beyond patriotism. At Arthur Ashe, where she won her first grand slam at 19 years old back in 2023, she is beloved.

The feeling is mutual.

“No disrespect to other tournaments,” Gauff said after the match, “but every US Open is kind of where my mind is.”

By then, she had lost, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, to Elena Rybakina, the new No. 1 in the sport.

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Coco Gauff bounced from US Open by new world No. 1 Elena Rybakina, who will face Aryna Sabalenka in final

“I enjoyed the atmosphere,” the soft-spoken Rybakina said of her first time playing on Arthur Ashe at night. “Even if the crowd mostly was for Coco.”

“ Co-co! Co-co! ” chanted the crowd after she won the fourth game of the first set. This was when it seemed she might dominate the match. The umpire, in a role that has been regularly tasked with chastising rowdy spectators at the tournament this year, offered a bemused but pointed “Thank you…” in response.

About an hour and a half later, with her time in the tournament slipping away, someone yelled “Come on, Coco!” It was a clear and piercing cheer. Supportive, but not celebratory. It didn’t feel fatalistic. Gauff was battling hard, the effort audible as she fended off Rybakina’s steady surge from behind. It was, at times, effective. When she broke the Kazakhstani star’s serve to stay alive in the final set, the crowd couldn’t help leaping to their feet. But then, as the final game unraveled, the cheers became more of a plea. “ Come on, Coco! ”

The impressive thing about live tennis is how fast it is. Except for when it’s slow.

When Rybakina sends a volley high into the air and Gauff has time to study the arc and the whole stadium gets impatient for her to just spike the damn ball, which she will as soon as it comes close enough.

Or slow like the final flight of a ball that’s been ping ponged back and forth like a whiplash, except now Gauff sees or senses that Rybakina’s strength could be her downfall and lets the line drive go all the way, landing and bouncing harmlessly out of bounds.

Elena Rybakina moves to No. 1 in the women’s rankings after reaching US Open semifinals

That trick of time disappears, though for the final point of the night. The game speed is back as Gauff’s last-ditch volley flies just long. Suddenly, it’s over.

The impressive thing about Arthur Ashe is how big it is – a cavernous cathedral to tennis. Except when it’s strikingly intimate.

They say the media seats are worse than they used to be, bumped out of the lower bowl to make room for more luxury options. But you can still see when a player’s shoulders go from coiled at the ready to released, not in relaxation but in resignation. After every point allowed, there’s a slight slump. And, actually, maybe it is a moment or a millisecond to relax – or, at least, a release, a physical unwinding of the expectations inherent in that rally. On to the next.

Until there is no more.

Frank Franklin II/AP

The discourse-inspiring but undeniably appealing atmosphere of the US Open is one of fanfare and decadence. The soundtrack, the swell of the collective gasps, even the lighting at night gives it the effect of building toward something big. Tennis matches feel like movie scenes, the tension shifting between easy-to-decipher binaries. It’s a blessing and curse for the sport, how quickly a casual fan can buy in and lend their energy to the ambiance.

Except when the night is done and the fan favorite has just fallen to a skilled stoic.

“I know you guys wanted Coco to win,” Rybakina said in her immediate post-match comments, still breathing heavily from what had been a worthy fight for a ticket to the final. She called herself lucky.

But the fans she was speaking to didn’t hear it. They were already gone, having evacuated the site of collective disappointment faster than seemed possible for a crowd of such size.

Gauff gathered her things as quickly as her many supporters did. And somewhere along the way between walking off Arthur Ashe and appearing before the media, her father reminded her that she’s accomplished so many great things this summer, which has been a consistent stretch of success.

“I don’t care about the summer,” she told him. She cares about the US Open, about giving these fans what they came to see.

“This is the tournament I want to perform at,” Gauff said. “I mean, I did perform, but the one that you want to come out with a win.”

Darren Carroll/USTA/Getty Images

别听他们说观众不在乎网球。至少，他们关心网球运动员。或者说，他们关心某个网球运动员。他们关心可可。

美国网球公开赛女单半决赛的观众都希望看到科科·高芙——这位魅力四射的美国球星，她轻快的运动能力掩盖了她的力量，而她轻松愉悦的气质则掩盖了她深厚的功底——赢得比赛。

当晚早些时候，杰西卡·佩古拉不敌阿丽娜·萨巴伦卡后，高芙成为本届赛事中唯一一位仍在征战的美国女选手。但人们对高芙的热情远不止于爱国情怀。在阿瑟·阿什球场，这位2023年年仅19岁就赢得首个大满贯冠军的选手，深受球迷爱戴。

彼此都有这种感觉。

“我无意冒犯其他赛事，”高芙赛后说道，“但我的心思总是放在美网公开赛上。”

那时，她以 3-6、6-4、6-4 的比分输给了这项运动的新晋世界第一埃琳娜·莱巴金娜。

Sarah Stier/Getty Images

科科·高芙在美网公开赛中不敌新晋世界第一埃琳娜·莱巴金娜，后者将在决赛中对阵阿丽娜·萨巴伦卡。

“我很喜欢那种氛围，”说话轻声细语的雷巴金娜谈到她第一次在阿瑟·阿什球场夜间演出时说道，“即使观众大多是来看《寻梦环游记》的。”

在她赢下第一盘第四局后，观众席上响起了“可可！可可！”的欢呼声。此时，她似乎要主宰比赛了。裁判——今年他经常被委以重任，负责训斥那些喧闹的观众——对此回应道，语气中带着一丝困惑，但又意味深长地说了一声“谢谢……”

大约一个半小时后，眼看高芙的晋级希望渺茫，有人高喊：“加油，可可！” 这声呐喊清晰而有力，充满支持，却并非庆祝，也并非绝望。高芙奋力拼搏，她奋力抵挡着莱巴金娜从后方发起的猛烈反扑，声音清晰可闻。有时，她的努力确实奏效。当她在决胜盘破掉这位哈萨克斯坦球星的发球局，得以继续留在比赛中时，观众们情不自禁地站了起来。但随着最后一局的进行，欢呼声逐渐变成了恳求：“加油，可可！”

现场网球比赛最令人印象深刻的地方在于它的节奏非常快。当然，慢的时候除外。

当莱巴金娜将球高高打向空中，高芙有时间观察球的弧线，整个体育场都迫不及待地想看到她扣球，而当球足够接近时，她就会扣球。

或者说，球的飞行速度慢得像乒乓球一样来回弹跳，就像鞭子抽打一样，只不过现在高芙看到或感觉到莱巴金娜的力量可能会成为她的弱点，于是让这记直线球一路飞出去，落地后弹跳着无害地出了界。

埃琳娜·莱巴金娜打入美网半决赛后，排名升至女子单打世界第一。

然而，时间的魔咒在当晚的最后一分消失了。比赛节奏恢复了，高芙的最后一击稍稍偏出。突然间，比赛结束了。

阿瑟·阿什球场最令人印象深刻的是它的规模——宛如一座网球界的宏伟教堂。但有时，它又会展现出令人惊艳的亲密氛围。

据说媒体席位不如以前了，被从下层看台挤出去，腾出空间给更豪华的座位。但你仍然能看出球员的肩膀从紧绷的准备状态到放松的转变，那不是放松，而是认命。每丢一分，他们都会略微垂下肩膀。或许，那只是一瞬间，哪怕只有一毫秒，也是放松的时刻——或者至少是一种释放，一种从刚才那波攻势中固有的期望中解脱出来的过程。然后，迎接下一波进攻。

直到再也没有为止。

弗兰克·富兰克林二世/美联社

美国网球公开赛的氛围既能激发讨论，又极具吸引力，既充满盛大场面，又略带颓废。从配乐、观众的惊叹声，到夜晚的灯光，都营造出一种即将迎来重大事件的氛围。网球比赛如同电影场景，紧张感在易于理解的二元对立之间转换。对于这项运动来说，这既是福也是祸：普通球迷也能如此迅速地融入其中，为比赛氛围注入活力。

除非夜幕降临，而深受球迷喜爱的选手却败给了技艺高超的斯多葛派选手。

“我知道你们都希望可可赢，”莱巴金娜在赛后立即说道，她仍然气喘吁吁，这场争夺决赛入场券的比赛十分精彩。她称自己很幸运。

但她正在交谈的歌迷们并没有听到。他们已经离开了，以如此庞大的人群所能达到的速度，迅速撤离了这片充满集体失望的场所。

高芙和她的众多支持者一样，迅速收拾好东西。在离开阿瑟·阿什球场到出现在媒体面前的这段时间里，她的父亲提醒她，这个夏天她取得了许多伟大的成就，而且一直保持着良好的状态。

“我不在乎夏天，”她告诉他。她只在乎美国网球公开赛，只想让这些球迷看到他们想看的比赛。

“这正是我想要参加的比赛，”高芙说。“我的意思是，我的确有所表现，但这是我最想赢得的比赛。”