Gauff meets Simone Biles after US Open win, credits her for inspiring victory

During Coco Gauff's 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 third round US Open victory over Donna Vekic on Thursday, Gauff found inspiration from a familiar face in the stands -- seven-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles.

Gauff had just concluded a grueling first set where she recorded seven double-faults and lost four of her six service games. It led to tears after going down 5-4, but Gauff bounced back to win the set -- and match -- before crediting Biles for her victory. Gauff saw her in the stands while the Olympian was being interviewed by ESPN.

"I saw her and honestly I don't know if she's up there," Gauff said. "But she helped me pull it out. I was just thinking if she can go on a six-inch beam and do that with all the pressures in the world then I can hit the ball ... It brought me a little bit of calm."

The 2023 US Open champion called Biles an inspiration and that her presence helped her pull out the victory.

After the match, the two met and Gauff expressed her thanks for Biles attending the match. Gauff even FaceTimed her mom for Biles to say hi, then took a screenshot of the three.

"Like seriously, what I said in the interview, I was thinking about that literally," Gauff said.

"Oh, that's so sweet," Biles responded.

Biles had similar praise for Gauff while being interviewed during the match, admitting that "obviously" she was the reason why Biles was back watching the US Open after coming for the first time last year.

Simone Biles loves watching Coco Gauff's grace and humility on and off the court 👏 pic.twitter.com/kRjaibnHZS

The No. 3-seeded Gauff will face No. 28-seed Magdalena Frech in the fourth round on Saturday.