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Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 32
Coco Gauff vs Cristina Bucsa — 6-3 6-4
 Coco Gauff✓ | 6 | 6 |
 Cristina Bucsa | 3 | 4 |
Final · Saturday, September 5, 2026 · Round of 32
Result
Gauff was broken in the third game having led it 30-0, losing four points in a row and double-faulting to hand over the break point. She broke back in the sixth from her only chance of the game, held for 4-3 through a game that contained three of her six double faults, and broke again in the eighth on a 21-shot rally — every one of Bucsa's service games in that set went to deuce. The second ran six straight holds and then finished in three love games: Gauff broke for 4-3, Bucsa broke straight back to love on a game that opened with a Gauff double fault, and Gauff broke back to love on one that opened with Bucsa's only double fault of the afternoon, then served it out without conceding a point, volleying the last one away as a lob went long. She landed 49% of her first serves — 62, 50 and 49 over three rounds — and won 74% of the points behind them, taking 72 to 54 overall. "Today was probably the more stressed I was, just because my first-serve percentage wasn't that high," she said on court, in her first day match of the tournament. It is her fifth straight US Open fourth round.
Coco GauffRows the source hadn’t published are left off rather than guessed.
At this Stage
The Round of 32 is the third round, and the last one before a Grand Slam draw becomes a small tournament: sixteen women's matches across Friday and Saturday leave sixteen players standing, every one of them having won twice on these courts. This is the round where the seeding chart stops doing any work — from here on, whoever is left is who you play.
Round of 64
What we know now
Court: Arthur Ashe Stadium
Match length: 1:28
Watch: ESPN · ESPN2 · ABC · ESPN app
What I said beforehand
The preview, frozen before the first serve. Clearly dated, never rewritten — that's the deal that makes the pick worth anything.
Gauff won this tournament in 2023 and is 42-14 for the season with a career hard-court record of 195-77. Bucsa is 40th in the world, 10-16 for the season, and reached this round by beating Himeno Sakatsume 7-6(6) 6-7(0) 7-6(10-6) in three hours across three tiebreaks — a match she won while losing more points than she won. Hard-court Elo separates them by 410 points, which is the widest gap in this round of the women's draw. The one previous meeting, at Indian Wells in 2023, went to Gauff 6-2 6-4. What Bucsa has is a US Open habit: the fourth round here last year is her best major result, and she is Spain's highest-ranked woman. What she does not have is any recent evidence — a 10-16 season, and three hours on court on Thursday against Gauff's two. Gauff was pushed hard by Paula Badosa and needed a tiebreak, made 21 unforced errors to Badosa's 32, and is three wins from the world No. 1 ranking if results elsewhere fall right. This is the seed's match to lose.
The case for Coco Gauff
88% to winGauff is a former champion here, 42-14 for the season, 195-77 on hard courts for her career, and 410 points clear on hard-court Elo. She won their only previous meeting in straight sets. Bucsa arrives on a 10-16 season and off a three-hour, three-tiebreak match in which she won fewer points than her opponent; Gauff arrives off a two-hour win with 21 unforced errors and her fifth consecutive third round in New York behind her.
The case for Cristina Bucsa
12% to winBucsa has been to the fourth round here before, in 2025, which is further than she has gone at any other major, and she has just proved she can stay on court for three hours and win three tiebreaks in a row. She takes the ball early and gives an opponent no rhythm, which is the profile that has troubled Gauff before. Gauff needed a tiebreak to get past a player ranked 87th on Thursday and made five double faults doing it.
Both cases written 2026-09-04, before the first ball — frozen into the record exactly as written, whatever the result. The percentages are mine — opinions with a percent sign on. They add to 100 because tennis has no draw to hide the rounding in.
My locked pick: Coco Gauff to advance ✓ RIGHT
“A former champion 410 Elo points clear, against a 10-16 season and a three-hour match in the legs.”
Locked 2026-09-04 05:50 UTC — rendered verbatim from the pick ledger; never a fresher, hedged version
Tale of the tape
Coco GauffCristina BucsaPlayer vitals: US Open official player feed (usopen.org) and Tennis Abstract career match logs · as of 2026-09-04.
Career head-to-head: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-09-04.
Storylines
- Gauff won this tournament in 2023 and is into her fifth consecutive US Open third round.
- Bucsa reached this round by beating Himeno Sakatsume 7-6(6) 6-7(0) 7-6(10-6) in three hours — while winning fewer points.
- Hard-court Elo separates them by 410 points, the widest gap in this round of the women's draw.
- Their only meeting was at Indian Wells in 2023; Gauff won it 6-2 6-4.
- Bucsa's fourth round here in 2025 is her best result at any major.
Head to head
One meeting: Gauff won 6-2 6-4 in the Indian Wells round of 64 in March 2023.
Source: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-09-04.
Court & schedule: Arthur Ashe Stadium, Saturday 5 September. The US Open posts each day's order of play the evening before; this one is on the board. (Official US Open order of play, as of 2026-09-04)
Weather: Sunday — the men's final, and the last match of the fortnight — is 78°F with showers and thunderstorms 95% likely, the wettest day of the two weeks and the one day that cannot be pushed back. Ashe closes its roof and plays on. It clears overnight: 20% Sunday night, 20% Monday, then dry and sunny from Tuesday. (National Weather Service New York forecast, as of 2026-09-13)
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York — hard.