Courtside Changeover: Taylor's resurgence, Coco's resilience and more from New York

“New York City tends to bring out just a lot of drama.” -- Jessica Pegula

NEW YORK -- The first week of the US Open has delivered a mix of tense matches, comeback stories and off-court intrigue. Yet as the tournament heads into the second week, the top four seeds -- Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Pegula herself -- are still very much in play.

Pegula’s offhand remark, made after her win over Victoria Azarenka on Friday, neatly captured the week’s mood -- unpredictable, charged, and at times, bigger than tennis itself.

For those who have been following along -- and, particularly, those who haven’t (you know who you are) -- we present Courtside Changeover, a look at the week that was and a sneak peek of what’s coming up. 

Week 1 Superlatives 

The Comeback of the Week

It didn't take long for the New York crowd to fall in love with Alexandra Eala, who came back from 5-1 down in the third set to force a tiebreak against 14th seed Clara Tauson in the first round of the US Open.

The 20-year-old ended up winning the wild back-and-forth tiebreak, prevailing 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (11) to become the first player from the Philippines in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam main-draw match.

As that was happening, there was some more high drama over on Court 10, as Moyuka Uchijima edged Olga Danilovic 7-6 (2), 4-6, 7-6 (9). The first Monday of the tournament appropriately set the tone for the rest of the week. 

The Stunning Upsets

American Madison Keys battled relentlessly but couldn't overcome her many errors (more on that below) in a devastating first-round loss to Renata Zarazua (much more on her, too). After the match, the Australian Open champion was candid about how her nerves got the best of her in Arthur Ashe Stadium, calling it "a little bit paralyzing."

Those hoping for a deep run from Victoria Mboko were also disappointed, as the Montreal champion bowed out to two-time Slam champ Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-2 in the first round. Not the result many expected, but there's no doubt the 19-year-old Canadian has many memorable Queens runs in her future.

The Star Power (and the Power of One Star, in Particular ...)

The celebs always come out to the Open and bask in the one-of-a-kind scene that envelops the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and this year has been no different. We won't bore you with all the names, but we'll list just a few: Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Mulaney and Olivia Munn, James Corden, Sabrina Ionescu, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Imperioli, Queen Latifah, Connie Britton ... you get the picture.

But perhaps our favorite "star" moment was Gauff shouting out Simone Biles for providing some much-needed inspiration from the seats during her second-round win over Donna Vekic. That was a cool moment.

The Shot of the Tournament (So Far ...)

We're gonna give doubles some much-deserved love here. 

This point is just nuts, for so many reasons.

The Photo of the Week 

Maybe photo of the year? Photo of the century? OK, we don't want to get too hyperbolic here, but this photo of Jasmine Paolini is objectively a once-in-a-lifetime snap. 

And now you know who to dress up as for Halloween.

The Quote of the Week 

Ah, so many quotes, so little space to share them. 

Tough to choose, but we'll go with this one from Venus Williams: "I always tell people, I'm not good at doubles. No one believes me."

Um, you've won fourteen -- 14! -- doubles Slams (16, if you count mixed). So yes, we do not believe you.

Here's another great one from her new partner, Leylah Fernandez, upon finding out that Venus wanted to play with her: "I was like a kid on Christmas day, just jumping around. I was so happy. I don't think I stopped smiling for the whole night, and even in the morning."

And there was plenty to smile about. Much more on them below.

Numbers Don't Lie 

Plenty of Winners ... But Way More Errors

Yeah, it was a rough match for Keys, who smashed 46 winners but committed 89 unforced errors in her 3-hour and 10-minute loss to Zarazua. The 6-7 (10), 7-6 (3), 7-5 defeat was especially surprising because of how strong she's been in tight matches this year. Coming into this one, Keys led the Hologic WTA Tour with 15 three-set victories and 10 comeback wins.

Zarazua Makes History

On the other side of the net, Zarazua became the first Mexican woman to defeat a Top 10 seed at a Grand Slam since Angelica Gavaldon took down Jana Novotna at the 1995 Australian Open.

Some more insane numbers from that match: Zarazua won 131 points to Keys' 125.

Zarazua lost her next match to Diane Parry, dropping the third-set tiebreak 10-7.

Coco Is in Good Company

Sometimes we forget how young Gauff is -- here's your reminder that she's still very young, and has accomplished an incredible amount before her 22nd birthday. We all know about the two Grand Slams, but in addition to the titles, she's been a prolific winner on the sport's biggest stage. With her three victories in New York this week, the World No. 3 now has 74 career wins at majors. Since 2000, only newly inducted Hall of Famer Maria Sharapova won more Grand Slam singles matches (85) before turning 22.

Coco turns 22 in March, so she has a bit more time to run up that tally with continued success in this tournament and a strong run in Australia next year. Amazingly, if she were to close out this tournament and win the Australian Open in January, she'd tie Sharapova with 85 on the nose. 

Moments to Remember

Thank You, Petra and Caroline

Two of the most beloved players on the Hologic WTA Tour played their final match this week. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova played her last match against Parry, and was quite emotional on court after the defeat as the gravity of the moment sunk in.

Later that day, former World No. 4 Caroline Garcia played her final match, a three-set loss to Kamilla Rakhimova.

Both had outstanding careers and were wonderful ambassadors for the sport (and continue to be). We'll miss them both, but we know we'll see them around sooner than later ...

Taylor Is the Toast of the Town

What a monumental week it was for Townsend.

The 29-year-old American became the talk of the Open after her upset of 25th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko. Frustrated that Townsend didn't apologize after winning a point with the help of a net cord, the former French Open champion confronted her after the match in a rather uncomfortable scene. Townsend admirably took the high road, but strongly defended herself and her actions.

Players rallied around the World No. 139 -- who's also the top-ranked doubles player -- in the aftermath of the incident, as did the fans, and she seized the moment by ousting fifth-seeded Mirra Andreeva in an electric Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night to advance to the fourth round.

The Doubles Team We Didn't Know We Needed

OK, back to Venus and Leylah. Earlier this summer, in Cincinnati, the former US Open finalist talked about what a dream it would be to play the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion. They didn't end up squaring off in Ohio, but less than a month later they were on the same side of the net, as a team, in front of more than 14,000 rabid fans in Louis Armstrong Stadium.

It was a party in Armstrong, as the unlikely American-Canadian pairing came back from 5-2 down in the first to upset sixth-seeded Lyudmyla Kichenok and Ellen Perez, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

And they weren't done. They followed it up with a straight-sets win over Eri Hozumi and Ulrikke Eikeri, and are into the third round.

We're thankful that Venus stuck around to play doubles, and watching these two together is a treat.

What's next

Looking Ahead to the Fourth Round

We've got some unbelievable matchups over the next two days. On Sunday, fourth-seeded Pegula squares off against countrywoman Ann Li, defending champion Sabalenka meets 95th-ranked Cristina Bucsa, two-time Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova plays the red-hot Townsend and ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina takes on former Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova.

Labor Day's slate features the ultimate popcorn match -- Naomi Osaka vs. Gauff -- as well as Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. six-time Slam champion Swiatek, 11th-seeded Karolina Muchova vs. 27th-seeded Marta Kostyuk and Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova vs.  Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Which Brings Us To This Question ...