NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Coco Gauff survived late-match drama to keep her US Open title defence alive with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Elina Svitolina on Friday as men’s defending champion Novak Djokovic aimed to further his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title.

Gauff’s third-set surge had carried her to a 5-2 lead and triple match point, but she delivered a pair of double faults and Svitolina saved another with a blazing backhand on the way to a break.

But Gauff broke Svitolina at love in the next game to lock up the win.

In a tense, physical encounter on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Gauff regrouped after a rocky end to the first set saw Svitolina break at love for a 5-3 lead and pocket the opener with a love game.

Gauff gained her first break of the match on her fourth opportunity for a 4-2 lead in the second and held on to force the third.

“I knew today was going to be a tough match — she’s a fighter,” Gauff said, saying more aggression on her forehand and fewer backhand errors helped her turn things around.

In other early matches, seventh-seeded Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen of China, who rallied from a set down in each of her first two matches, dispatched Germany’s Jule Niemeier 6-2, 6-1.

“Finally it’s the first match I won in two sets,” she said.

Spain’s Paula Badosa had to fight back for a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10/8) victory over Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who had toppled Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the second round.

Gauff was followed on Ashe by Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, in a rematch of their memorable all-American quarter-final last year won by Shelton — who became the youngest American man in the US Open semis since Michael Chang in 1992.

Tiafoe, coming off a runner-up finish in Cincinnati, was “super excited” to get another crack at his compatriot as he vies to equal or improve upon his semi-final showing in 2022.

Djokovic, seeded second behind world number one Jannik Sinner and no longer with Carlos Alcaraz to worry about after the Spaniard’s shock second-round exit, opens the night session on Ashe against 28th-seeded Alexei Popyrin.

The Serb star has won all three of their prior meetings, including at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year.

But Djokovic has reason to be wary. Popyrin claimed the biggest title of his career at the Montreal Masters this month, and Djokovic said the 25-year-old is “knocking on the door.”

Djokovic won the Olympic singles gold he coveted at the Paris Games, but that was a rare high spot in an erratic season and last year’s US Open title, which saw him tie Margaret Court for most all-time Grand Slams with 24, is his most recent major triumph.

Popyrin, seeded at a major for the first time, has yet to drop a set and the 24-year-old Sydneysider said his four-set defeats to Djokovic this year have shown him he can challenge the legend.

– Toe-to-toe –
But he’ll have to be able to respond to Djokovic’s best if he’s to hand him his first exit before the fourth round since 2006.

“He’s the greatest of all time and one of the best players in the world right now,” Popyrin said. “But I’m able to go toe-to-toe with him, and just in the important points he steps up a little bit, and I just have to expect that.”

Djokovic-Popyrin opens the evening on Ashe, where second-seeded Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus caps the night against Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova.

The two have split their six prior meetings, Sabalenka winning most recently in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

“We’ve had a lot of great battles, really tight matches,” Sabalenka said. “I’m looking forward for that great fight.”

Other seeds in action include 2020 runner-up Alexander Zverev, seeded fourth, taking on Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry in a rematch of their 2023 Roland Garros quarter-final.

World number six Andrey Rublev takes on Jiri Lehecka and world number eight and 2022 runner-up Casper Ruud faces Chinese teenager Shang Juncheng.