During the US Open quarterfinals, Caroline Garcia defeated Coco Gauff. Meanwhile, Karen Khachanov and Casper Ruud also reached the men’s semifinals. While Caroline Garcia never really let Coco Gauff or the crowd get really involved in their U.S. Open quarterfinal, her victory was decisive.

Coco Gauff, 18, Has Enjoyed Great Successes Early in Her Career

Garcia played high-stakes tennis from early on and put her strokes where she wanted them to be, sometimes right at Coco Gauff’s feet and sometimes well out of reach. While Gauff had early successes in her career and is still just 18, Garcia has had a much longer journey to get to play in the first Grand Slam semifinal of her career at the age of 28.

The 17th-seeded Caroline Garcia started strong and took charge at the beginning of the match and never relented, achieving a 6-3, 6-4 victory against the 12th-seeded Coco Gauff. The match took place at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Coco Gauff Is Currently Ranked 8th in Singles and 5th in Doubles

In an interview, Garcia stated that she would just go for her shots, even when she was stressed. Before her victory over Coco Gauff, who was also the runner-up at the French Open in June, Garcia had lost both of her two previous matches against her. Still, she showed that she was by far the better player this time around and won decisively.

Caroline Garcia is from France and hasn’t ceded a set at Flushing Meadows so far this year. She has stretched her winning streak to 13 matches overall and solidified her status as a player playing as well as anyone in women’s tennis at the moment. Last season, she finished ranked 74th, but now she seems to be well on her way to rising into the top 10. In her recent interview, she stated that she felt healthy again during the last couple of months and was looking forward to the next challenge in front of her and the things she could achieve.

Caroline Garcia later faced Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur of Tunisia for the semi-final and lost 1-6, 3-6.

The shortened 2020 MLB season is going to be one like we’ve never seen before. With so few games to be played, every win is essential. Injuries are also going to be crucial, and it seems like the Astros have suffered one that puts them out of playoff contention already.

Working With A Thin Squad

The Astros have a thin playing squad coming into the new MLB season. That hasn’t changed, and now things have taken a turn for the worse following a forearm strain suffered by Justin Verlander.

The Astros were going to be heavily relying on their Cy Young winner, but now they are down to the bare bones while Verlander heals up for a few weeks. Even though it’s just a few weeks, this condensed schedule means every day that Verlander is missing counts.

Not Out For The Season

However, while Verlander’s absence isn’t great news, the veteran right-hander did have some encouraging words for the fans. Despite reports that Verlander was out for the season, the Astros star said he just needed to rest and heal for a little while before making his comeback.

Verlander joined the Astros in 2017 and has already helped lead the franchise to two World Series appearances. He has a 2.45 ERA in his 74 regular-season starts, winning his second Cy Young Award in 2019.

The star had managed to recover from surgery before the season resumed, but appeared to suffer his latest injury against the Seattle Mariners. However, with the expanded playoffs this year, the Astros may be able to finish lower but still make the postseason.

With large chunks of the season being played in such a short time span, losing a Cy Young winner in Verlander for any period is tough. Verlander is going to miss weeks of action, and the damage to the Astros season could already be done before he returns.