Coco Gauff powered through a tense three-set battle to book her spot in the Canadian Open third round, showing grit despite a shaky serve. source: AFP
(The Post News)- Coco Gauff dug deep to outlast fellow American Danielle Collins in a rollercoaster match at the WTA Canadian Open on Tuesday. Gauff eventually triumphed 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), fighting off a fierce challenge and winning the last six points of the match.
This hard-fought win marks Gauff’s first outing on the North American hardcourt swing ahead of the US Open later this August. Despite a frustrating performance that saw her hit 23 double faults, she closed out the nearly three-hour battle with an ace, her third of the match.
Gauff admitted she struggled to carry her solid practice form into the match, but hopes this will be her only “off-day” of the tournament. “I just need to sharpen up my serve, that alone could’ve made things easier,” she said.
Now into the third round, Gauff will face world number five Veronika Kudermetova, who comfortably beat Serbia’s Olga Danilovic.Meanwhile, 21-year-old Japanese qualifier Aoi Ito caused the upset of the day by knocking out seventh seed Jasmine Paolini. Ito rallied from a set and a break down to win 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5), booking a clash with Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
Elsewhere, Leylah Fernandez fell on home turf, while Mirra Andreeva advanced via walkover after Bianca Andreescu withdrew with an ankle injury.
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