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Tag: Coco Gauff

  • Gauff brushes off protests and Muchova | The Express Tribune

    Gauff brushes off protests and Muchova | The Express Tribune



    NEW YORK:

    American teenager Coco Gauff shrugged off a 49-minute stoppage caused by climate protesters to power into the US Open final on Thursday with a straight sets defeat of Karolina Muchova.

    The 19-year-old from Florida advanced to her first final at Flushing Meadows after winning 6-4, 7-5 in a semi-final that took nearly three hours to complete due to disruption by protesters.

    Gauff will face either second seed Aryna Sabalenka or compatriot Madison Keys in Saturday’s final, who play later on Thursday.

    Gauff later admitted the long delay had been “challenging” but said she had sympathy with the activists and their cause.

    “I definitely, I believe, you know, in climate change,” Gauff said. “I think there are things we can do better.

    “I know the tournaments are doing things to do better for the environment. Would I prefer it not happening in my match? 100%, yeah. I’m not gonna sit here and lie.

    “I think that moments like this are history-defining moments. I prefer it not to happen in my match but I wasn’t pissed at the protesters. I know the stadium was because it just interrupted entertainment.

    “Obviously I don’t want it to happen when I’m winning up 6-4, 1-0, and I wanted the momentum to keep going. But hey, if that’s what they felt they needed to do to get their voices heard, I can’t really get upset at it.”

    Muchova meanwhile suggested little could be done to stop protests in future.

    “I mean, it happened at Wimbledon, as well. We see it here and there on some occasions,” she said. “It is what it is. I mean, it’s obviously changed the rhythm a little bit. What can we do about it? People.”

    American youngster Gauff will be targeting her first Grand Slam title after battling to victory on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

    Gauff, who is now the youngest American woman to reach the US Open final since her idol Serena Williams in 1999, had looked to be cruising towards victory in the first set.

    The teenager broke Muchova twice early on to race into a 5-1 lead.

    But her Czech opponent regained her composure and turned the tables as the fluency returned to her powerful groundstrokes.

    Muchova fought back to break, cutting Gauff’s lead to 5-4 after the teenager had twice served for the set.

    However Muchova then faltered and Gauff broke back to clinch the first set when her rival hammered a backhand return into the net.

    The second set was only one game old when environmental activists disrupted play, chanting “End fossil fuels”. One of the protesters glued themselves to the floor of the stands, forcing a 49-minute stoppage.

    When the players returned, a tense second set unfolded.

    Muchova held off a match point in the 10th game to level at 5-5 before Gauff held for a 6-5 lead.

    Muchova then saved four more match points on her serve before finally succumbing on the sixth match point, hammering a backhand return long to leave Gauff victorious.

    Muchova said she had felt off her game from the opening point.

    “Today I was not feeling it from the start until the end,” she said. “I’m pretty sad about the outcome, that I didn’t put the best out of me on the court.”





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  • ‘Pep talk’ helps lift Djokovic’s spirits | The Express Tribune

    ‘Pep talk’ helps lift Djokovic’s spirits | The Express Tribune



    NEW YORK:

    Novak Djokovic rallied from two sets down against compatriot Laslo Djere to avoid his earliest US Open exit since 2006 on Friday, while Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff closed in on a blockbuster clash.

    Djokovic tapped into his unrivalled powers of recovery to reach the last 16 and keep alive his quest for a record-extending men’s 24th Grand Slam crown with a 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win over the 32nd-seeded Djere.

    “It was one of the toughest matches I’ve played here in many years,” said Djokovic.

    After coasting through two rounds, Djokovic risked failing to make the second week in New York for the first time since losing to Lleyton Hewitt in the third round as a teenager 17 years ago.

    An inspired Djere broke in the opening game en route to bagging the first set and did so again midway through the second set to put the 28-year-old in sight of an improbable victory.

    But Djokovic showed why he will reclaim the world number one ranking after the tournament, displaying his trademark resilience to wriggle his way out of a two-set hole for the eighth time in his career at a Grand Slam.

    The only other time he escaped such a predicament at the US Open came when he won the first of his three titles in 2011 after saving two match points against Roger Federer in the semi-finals.

    Djokovic revealed he had given himself an angry pep talk in the locker room after falling two sets behind.

    “I did a little pep talk in the mirror,” he said. “I laughed at myself because I was so pissed off with the way I played, to try and lift my spirits up.

    “I’ve done it a few times before in my career and it hasn’t worked but tonight it did and I’m grateful.”

    The 36-year-old Serbian star goes on to face 105th-ranked Croatian qualifier Borna Gojo for a spot in the quarter-finals.

    The in-form Gauff, coming off titles in Washington and Cincinnati, also had to dig deep to withstand Belgium’s Elise Mertens as the 19-year-old American fought her way to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory.

    “A win is a win, it doesn’t matter how you get it done,” said Gauff. “If anything the three-setters show everybody else I’m not going down without a fight.”

    Mertens fended off a pair of break points in the sixth game of the first set and then broke twice in succession to surge ahead.

    Gauff, taken the distance in the opening round, held off a barrage of break points early in the second set before swinging the momentum in her favour as Mertens began to falter.

    She finished off in style by winning 10 games on the bounce to book a fourth-round meeting with Caroline Wozniacki, moving her one win away from a possible blockbuster quarter-final with Swiatek.

    The Pole briefly put sentiment to one side as she demolished 145th-ranked Slovenian qualifier and close friend Kaja Juvan 6-0, 6-1 in just 49 minutes.

    “I didn’t like the fact that I was kind of winning with my best friend,” said top seed Swiatek. “It was like playing against a sister because I’ve known her for so long.”

    Swiatek is bidding to become the first woman to successfully defend her US Open crown since Serena Williams won a hat-trick of titles from 2012-2014.

    She next faces 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who beat Bernarda Pera in three sets.

    Former world number one Wozniacki, playing her first Grand Slam in over three years, kept her fairytale US Open return going with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Jennifer Brady.

    Romania’s Sorana Cirstea defeated fourth seed and last year’s Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4. She will face Swiss 15th seed Belinda Bencic in the last 16.

    Czech 10th seed Karolina Muchova moved on courtesy of a 7-6 (7/0), 6-3 win over Taylor Townsend.

    She will meet China’s Wang Xinyu who battled into the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time by coming from a set down to oust Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

    Ninth seed Taylor Fritz led a quartet of American men through to the last 16 seeking to become the host nation’s first male Grand Slam champion since Andy Roddick here in 2003.

    Fritz crushed Czech qualifier Jakub Mensik 6-1, 6-2, 6-0. Mensik was the youngest man to reach the US Open third round since 1990 and celebrated his 18th birthday on Friday.

    Frances Tiafoe, a semi-finalist last year, progressed with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) win over France’s Adrian Mannarino.

    Tommy Paul, the 14th seed, advanced with a four-set win over Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, while Ben Shelton put out Aslan Karatsev 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.

    Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker prolonged his breakout run by outlasting French wild card Benjamin Bonzi 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-2.

    Rinky Hijikata’s improbable ride also continued as the Australian wildcard entrant reached the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over China’s Zhang Zhizhen.





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  • Gauff ready to continue Serena’s legacy | The Express Tribune

    Gauff ready to continue Serena’s legacy | The Express Tribune



    NEW YORK:

    One year after Serena Williams bade an emotional farewell to tennis in front of an adoring crowd at Flushing Meadows, Coco Gauff is dreaming of continuing the 23-time Grand Slam champion’s legacy when the US Open gets under way next week.

    The 19-year-old from Florida, who grew up idolizing the now-retired Williams, heads into the New York showpiece with realistic hopes of landing her first Grand Slam title after an impressive run of results in the WTA Tour’s North American hardcourt swing.

    She won her second title of the season at the Washington Open in early August and then followed an encouraging run to the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open with a breakthrough victory in Cincinnati last weekend – her first WTA 1000 title.

    That win in Cincinnati also included a semi-final victory against world number one and reigning US Open champion Iga Swiatek – the first time Gauff has beaten the Polish four-time Grand Slam singles champion in eight meetings.

    Gauff’s form over the past month suggests that the teenager is finally ready to deliver in the demanding crucible of a Grand Slam tennis tournament, four years after she announced herself on the world stage with a scintillating run to the fourth round of Wimbledon as a 15-year-old qualifier.

    The world number six says her recent success has been built on learning how to grind out victories even when she is not playing her best tennis.

    “I think that’s what makes a champion – how you’re doing on the days you aren’t feeling so great,” she said after her win in Cincinnati.

    Gauff later revealed she spent “a lot of nights at home crying” earlier in the season as she struggled to discover her best form.

    “For me, it was just difficult because I knew what I needed to improve,” Gauff said.

    “I was going in practice and I was working on it. It just wasn’t translating into the matches. It still can get a lot better, the things I want to improve.”

    If Gauff’s upward trajectory continues over the next fortnight, there is every chance she can become only the fifth Black woman to win the US Open in the Open era, following in the footsteps of Serena and Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens and Naomi Osaka.

    With Serena Williams having departed the stage, Gauff is acutely aware that she is seen by many as the likeliest standard-bearer for the next generation of African-American women tennis players.

    It is a responsibility the teenager readily embraces, even if she does not believe she bears comparison to Serena Williams.

    “It’s something that I don’t take lightly,” Gauff said.

    “Sometimes I guess it increases the pressure because I know that this community of people, the community of people of color, black people, look up to me a lot.

    “Especially with Serena retiring, people consider me the next leader or something of tennis.

    “I don’t put myself in that box because Serena is the G.O.A.T. for a reason. It’s ‘greatest of all time’. I’m part of all time, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to go as far as she did. That’s the dream.

    “For me, it’s just trying my best to be the best version of myself and being the best Coco on and off the court. I try to pay attention to how I present myself and the causes that I support off the court.”

    The sixth-seeded Gauff’s path to the title in New York will not be easy however, with the American on course for a quarter-final showdown with defending champion Swiatek. Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, is also in Gauff’s side of the draw.





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  • Gauff bags biggest career title | The Express Tribune

    Gauff bags biggest career title | The Express Tribune



    CINCINNATI:

    Coco Gauff captured the biggest title of her career on Sunday, powering past Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-4 to win the WTA Cincinnati Open.

    The 19-year-old American rushed to her box to hug her team members after securing her first 1000-level title over French Open runner-up Muchova in just under two hours.

    Gauff was broken while serving for the straight-sets win, but two games later threw her hands up in joy after converting on her fourth match point.

    “This is unbelievable,” said Gauff, who became the youngest winner of the Cincinnati WTA title and the first teenager to win five career titles since Caroline Wozniacki in 2008-09.

    “Especially after Europe,” added the seventh seed, who was stung by a first-round exit at Wimbledon last month. “I had a lot of nights crying and trying to figure it all out but this is great.”

    Gauff said she arrived on the US hard courts knowing what she needed to do to improve.

    “I was going in practice and I was working on it. It just wasn’t translating into the matches,” she said. “It still can get a lot better, the things I want to improve.”

    She fired 16 winners with the same number of unforced errors in the final, breaking Muchova five times.

    “Today I really won it off of breaking serve, to be honest,” said Gauff, adding that she didn’t serve as well as she did in her semi-final victory over world number one Iga Swiatek.

    “I don’t know if it was nerves – I wasn’t that nervous, to be honest. Also a combination of the long match yesterday. I wasn’t serving as well.”

    She had enough, however, to get past an equally weary Muchova, who ousted second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the semis.

    “I think that’s what makes a champion, is how you’re doing on the days you aren’t feeling so great,” Gauff said.

    “I think physically we were both feeling the impact of yesterday. I think for me, I was just able to persevere a little bit more in that final push.”

    Since losing in the opening round at Wimbledon, Gauff has won 11 of her last 12 matches with her only defeat coming against Jessica Pegula last week in the Montreal quarter-finals.

    Despite that hiccup she’ll go into the US Open starting in eight days on a high.

    She has now won five of her six career finals, including her first 500-level event at Washington two weeks ago and her first 1000-level title here.

    Muchova turned 27 on Monday with a career-best ranking of 10th.

    “I’m really happy to make a top-10 debut,” she said. “It’s always a thing that is in your mind when you play tennis, to make it to top 10. It’s happening for me tomorrow, so that’s really nice result.

    “Today’s match, yeah, I fell a little short today,” she added. “I was very hot.

    “Coco played great. She kept me in the rallies … it was tough to keep up with her.”

    Gauff and Muchova twice exchanged breaks in the opening set, with the American coughing up three double-faults to lose the third game and dropping serve again in the seventh.

    But a final break of the Czech off a backhand error handed the set to the crowd favorite after 44 minutes.

    Gauff went up two breaks in the second set, giving back one before she closed out the victory.

    “She’s very fast,” Muchova said of Gauff, who she played for the first time. “I would say she really gets to most of the balls so you always have to expect that one more ball is coming.”





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  • Fritz pulls double duty to reach semi-finals | The Express Tribune

    Fritz pulls double duty to reach semi-finals | The Express Tribune



    WASHINGTON:

    Top-seeded Taylor Fritz battled past three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4 then returned to breeze past Jordan Thompson and reach the semi-finals of the rain-hit Washington Open on Friday.

    Fritz was not the only player pulling double duty at the combined ATP and WTA hardcourt tennis tournament, after rain brought play to a premature end on Thursday.

    Britain’s Daniel Evans defeated Alexander Shevchenko 6-4, 6-3 then came back to upset second-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 7-5.

    Tiafoe had made short work of his third-round opponent, dispatching Chinese teenager Shang Juncheng 6-2, 6-3.

    But ninth-seeded Evans gained an early break in each set and turned back the American’s bid to rally in the second, breaking Tiafoe for a 6-5 lead and saving a break point as he served out the match in the next game.

    Evans next faces Bulgarian fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov, who got some unexpected rest when France’s Ugo Humbert withdrew from their quarter-final with a leg injury.

    Fritz next faces Tallon Griekspoor, who finished off a rain-disrupted three-set victory over France’s Gael Monfils before beating American JJ Wolf 7-5, 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

    Fritz, ranked ninth in the world, looked anything but fatigued as he raced past Thompson 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 17 minutes.

    Thompson had earlier beaten Wimbledon quarter-finalist Christopher Eubanks 6-2, 6-2, while Fritz had needed three hours to subdue the 44th-ranked Murray.

    Murray, showing his formidable range of skills at age 36, won his first break chance of the match with a forehand cross-court drop volley winner on the line, breaking Fritz and pulling level at 5-5 on the way to a first set tie-break.

    Murray smashed a forehand winner for a 3-1 lead, took a quick break to replace a shattered shoe, then took two points off Fritz’s serve as he pocketed the set.

    Fritz battled back to take the second and they fought to 4-4 in the third before Murray swatted a backhand wide to surrender a break.

    Down 0-40 in the 10th game, Fritz saved three break points. Murray denied him on two match points before Fritz blasted a forehand winner on his third chance.

    “I think that the match with Andy earlier was insanely high level,” Fritz said. “I thought he played really well. I thought he served really well.

    “It was a war,” he added. “With how these balls are, they’re so slow, dead, it’s really tough to finish points. You’re going to inevitably have these really long, physical rallies.

    “I did a great job to win that. And then I did a really good job to come back and play how I played in that last match.

    “I feel like my body probably couldn’t have handled another battle like I had with Andy,” Fritz added.

    In women’s action, top seed Jessica Pegula rallied past Wimbledon semi-finalist Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to book a semi-final showdown with Greek fourth seed Maria Sakkari.

    Sakkari had to win twice on Friday, beating Canadian Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 6-2 before dispatching seventh-seeded American Madison Keys 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.

    Third-seeded American Coco Gauff cruised past sixth-seeded Swiss Belinda Bencic 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final against defending champion Liudmila Samsonova, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.

    Gauff, in contrast, was never troubled by reigning Olympic champion Bencic, converting six of her nine break chances.

    “I put a lot of hours in after Wimbledon and I was eager to bounce back,” said Gauff, who crashed out in the first round at the All England Club.

    “The serve has improved, the return has improved and I think I’m dictating a lot of points, which against Belinda is not an easy thing to do.”





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  • Sabalenka, Gauff crash out in Berlin | The Express Tribune

    Sabalenka, Gauff crash out in Berlin | The Express Tribune



    BERLIN:

    Top seed Aryna Sabalenka and US star Coco Gauff suffered setbacks in their Wimbledon build-ups on Thursday when they slumped to second round losses at the Berlin WTA tournament.

    World number two Sabalenka was defeated 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) by Veronika Kudermetova whose Russian compatriot Ekaterina Alexandrova saw off seventh-ranked Gauff 6-4, 6-0.

    Alexandrova and Kudermetova will meet in Friday’s quarter-finals, just five days after they fought out the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

    Kudermetova had also defeated Sabalenka at the same stage in Berlin 12 months ago in three sets.

    On Thursday, world number 13 Kudermetova broke her Belarusian opponent three times in her 99-minute victory.

    Alexandrova, ranked at 22, successfully defended her ‘s-Hertogenbosch title in a dramatic three-set triumph over Kudermetova on Sunday.

    Her win over Gauff avenged her loss to the American teenager from two match points up in their only previous meeting at Dubai in 2021.

    After falling behind 3-1 in the first set, the 28-year-old Russian won 11 of the last 12 games to reach the Berlin quarter-finals for the second time in her career.

    “Grass is not my favorite surface, but somehow I’m managing to play so well on it,” said Alexandrova.

    “And maybe the score looks easy, but it’s never like that because she played amazing. I needed to stay focused during every single point to keep it that way. I’m just hoping I can keep this form as long as I can.”

    Greek sixth seed Maria Sakkari breezed past Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2, 6-1 while Marketa Vondrousova also made the last eight when German opponent Jule Niemeier retired with injury from their second round clash.





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  • Swiatek shines in French Open blitz | The Express Tribune

    Swiatek shines in French Open blitz | The Express Tribune



    PARIS:

    World number one and defending champion Iga Swiatek took just 51 minutes to reach the French Open fourth round on Saturday as Coco Gauff ended 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva’s memorable Paris debut.

    Swiatek blitzed 80th-ranked Wang Xinyu of China 6-0, 6-0 on the back of 21 winners as the 22-year-old Pole took another step closer to becoming the first woman since Justine Henin in 2007 to win back-to-back titles at Roland Garros.

    Of the six sets she has played so far, four have been to love. In all she has dropped just eight games through three rounds.

    “It was a really solid performance from me. It’s not easy to stay disciplined and keep your focus,” said Swiatek, who also won the title in 2020.

    Swiatek will face Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, who breezed past 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu for the loss of just two games, for a quarter-final berth.

    Her path to the final was made easier earlier Saturday by the withdrawal of Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, a possible last-four opponent, due to illness.

    Rybakina had been due to face Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain in the opening match on Court Philippe Chatrier but said she was suffering with a fever.

    “I had fever and a headache and it’s difficult to breathe. I tried to play in the warm-up but I feel it’s the right decision to withdraw,” said the 23-year-old Kazakh.

    Sorribes Tormo, ranked 132 in the world, will face Beatriz Haddad Maia, the first Brazilian to make the last 16 in Paris since 1979, for a place in the last eight.

    World number six Gauff, the runner-up to Swiatek last year, came back from a set down to defeat Andreeva 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-1.

    Andreeva, ranked a lowly 143, had come through qualifying and was the youngest player to make the third round since 2005.

    “Mirra is super young and has a big future,” said 19-year-old Gauff who will face Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia for a quarter-finals spot.

    Andreeva was fortunate to avoid a default for petulantly hitting a ball into the Court Suzanne Lenglen crowd during the first set.

    “Right after I thought that it was a really stupid move from me,” she admitted.

    Seventh-ranked Ons Jabeur made sure five of the top seeds reached the last 16 by defeating Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

    World number four Casper Ruud, the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in 2022, dropped the first set before easing to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 win against China’s Zhang Zhizhen.

    The 26-year-old Zhang was bidding to become the first Chinese man since 1936 to reach the fourth round.

    Ruud will next face in-form Nicolas Jarry after the Chilean edged out Marcos Giron of the United States 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 6-3.

    Jarry arrived in Paris having claimed the Geneva clay court title and will be making a maiden appearance in the last 16 of a major.

    Also featuring in the second week for the first time will be 49th-ranked Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina who stunned 15th seed Borna Coric 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.

    Etcheverry will next face Japanese 27th seed Yoshihito Nishioka who edged a dramatic five-set battle with qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round for the first time.

    Nishioka battled back to win 3-6, 7-6 (10/8), 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 against the Brazilian who had knocked out world number two Daniil Medvedev in the first round.

    Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina joined the list of South American first-timers in the second week by seeing off US ninth seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.

    Cerundolo next meets Danish world number six and 2022 quarter-finalist Holger Rune who eased past 231st-ranked Argentinian qualifier Genaro Alberto Olivieri 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.

    Daniel Altmaier, who won the fifth longest match in French Open history in the last round, succumbed in straight sets to Grigor Dimitrov.

    The Bulgarian will next face Alexander Zverev who edged out Frances Tiafoe of the United States 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 7-6 (7/5).

    Zverev suffered ankle ligament damage in a semi-final loss to Nadal in 2022 which ended his season.

    “It’s been the hardest year of my life,” said German 22nd seed Zverev. “I’m so happy to be back.”





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  • Gauff loses out to Potapova power | The Express Tribune

    Gauff loses out to Potapova power | The Express Tribune



    MIAMI:

    American Coco Gauff was knocked out of the Miami Open on Saturday after an intense three-set battle with Anastasia Potapova while Indian Wells champion Elena Rybakina earned a hard-fought comeback win against Spain’s Paula Badosa.

    Three-times Miami winner Victoria Azarenka fell to Poland’s Magda Linette but third seed Jessica Pegula advanced with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/0) win over fellow American Danielle Collins.

    Potapova showed determination, stamina and some powerful baseline hitting as she beat South Florida-based Gauff, the world number six, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5, 6-2.

    The two hour, 41 minute match in the early afternoon heat ebbed and flowed before Potapova took a firm grip in the third set.

    The 27th-seeded Russian led 5-2 in the first set but Gauff fought back to win the tie-break after Potapova went wide with a poor shot on set-point.

    Gauff looked to have the momentum and served for the match at 5-3 up in the second set but with nothing to lose, Potapova changed gears and her free-swinging approach paid off with her winning the next four games.

    After a 10 minute heat break, Potapova returned looking fresh and confident but Gauff was struggling to refind her rhythm and after Potapova, ranked 26th, broke in the fifth game the outcome never looked in doubt.

    The win was Potapova’s third career victory against a top 10 opponent and her first against Gauff after two losses.

    “I think I just let it go, and I started to focus on my tennis and going for my shots and not thinking what she is going to do,” Potapova said of her turnaround performance.

    Gauff was disappointed with a performance where she failed to find a consistent rhythm.

    “I felt like I just didn’t play how I wanted to today. Really, where I got in the match was just because of my mentality, but not because of my game,” said the 19-year-old, who said that while she felt some nerves on her home court, she wasn’t over-awed.

    “I don’t think that’s the reason why I lost today. I really think it was a combination of Anastasia playing well and me not stepping into the court when I needed to in certain moments,” she said.

    Potapova will play Chinese starlet Zheng Qinwen in the round of 16 after she beat 12th seed Liudmila Samsonova 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in 3 hours and 7 minutes.

    Rybakina rallied from a set down to sink Badosa 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. She extended her winning streak to 10 matches as she kept on course to claim the Miami-Indian Wells “Sunshine Double”.

    The Kazakh struggled in the first set with Badosa breaking her serve four times and although she got her game together in the second set, she found herself 5-4 down and facing match point.

    That proved to the momentum swing in the contest as Rybakina held serve and then broke the Spaniard to see out the set and she was in full charge of the third set.

    “It didn’t start well in the first set but in the end I just found some energy,” said Rybakina.

    “It was a really tough battle. I was trying to focus on every point because the first set didn’t go my way, but it was just a few mistakes here and there. Overall, I played well,” she said.

    Azarenka fell in three sets to the lower-ranked Linette 7-6 (7/3),  2-6, 6-4 ending her hopes of a fourth Miami title.

    Linette, who had not won a set off of Azarenka in their two prior meetings, converted five of her eight break points and will now face Pegula for a place in the quarter-finals.

    Former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko defeated 13th seed Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia for the fourth time in as many meetings to reach the fourth round with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win.

    Pegula advanced to the fourth round with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/0) win over fellow American Danielle Collins.





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  • Kudermetova stuns Gauff in Doha | The Express Tribune

    Kudermetova stuns Gauff in Doha | The Express Tribune



    DOHA:

    Veronika Kudermetova upset the Doha Open seedings to beat American teenager Coco Gauff 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 on Thursday and set up a semi-final with world number one Iga Swiatek.

    Russian 25-year-old Kudermetova, ranked eighth, needed just over two hours to complete victory over the world number four.

    If she is to reach a first WTA final since Istanbul last April, Kudermetova will have to get past a refreshed Swiatek.

    The reigning French and US Open champion reached the last-four when last weekend’s Abu Dhabi title winner Belinda Bencic withdrew from their quarter-final.

    Kudermetova, who will be playing in her second semi-final of the year, has not won a set from Swiatek in two previous encounters.

    Polish star Swiatek hardly broke sweat in her opening match at the tournament, dropping just one game and needing only 53 minutes to defeat Danielle Collins on Wednesday.

    Last season, Swiatek kicked off a 37-match win streak in Doha, where she captured her first WTA 1000-level hard-court title.

    A day after saving two match points to beat Jelena Ostapenko, second seeded Jessica Pegula had a much easier time, cruising to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Beatriz Haddad Maia.

    Pegula won six matches to reach the final four in Doha two years ago after coming through the qualifiers.

    “It’s a little bit different than the qualifying days,” she said.

    “It’s a lot easier physically, but definitely still very tough with how strong and tough the field is.”

    Pegula hit 22 winners to 16 unforced errors on Thursday while Haddad Maia made just 12 winners to 20 unforced errors.

    The American will face Maria Sakkari after the Greek knocked out WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia of France 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5).

    “The conditions were very tough for both of us,” Sakkari said.

    “I think we did a really good job in the second set of holding our serves and not giving the opponent a chance to break. You don’t see that often in women’s tennis. It was pretty impressive.”

    Sakkari finished with 30 winners to 21 unforced errors while Garcia finished with 43 winners to 44 unforced errors.





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