Montreal (AFP) – World number two Coco Gauff battled into the third round of the WTA Canadian Open on Tuesday by outlasting US compatriot Danielle Collins 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2). Gauff won the last six points of the match to capture her opener in her first hardcourt tune-up event on the road to the US Open, which starts on August 24.
Top seed Gauff, the reigning French Open champion who also won the 2023 US Open, advanced to a third-round Montreal match against fifth-ranked Veronika Kudermetova, who eliminated Serbian Olga Danilovic 6-4, 6-2. “It was a frustrating match for me just because I felt like I was practicing well and then I don’t think I transferred it,” Gauff said. “But hopefully I got my bad match of the tournament out of the way and I can come back stronger in the next round.”
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The 21-year-old Gauff, seeking her 11th career WTA title, fired 23 double faults against three aces, but closed out the match with an ace after two hours and 55 minutes. “It was a tough battle out there,” Gauff said. “Making serves in the court was the toughest challenge. Maybe if I cut that in half it could be a quicker match for me. I thought I was playing well, except for that part of my game.”
Gauff converted nine of 16 break chances in her first victory since capturing the title at Roland Garros. “For me to break her as many times as I did, there are some positives to take from today,” Gauff said. Collins and Gauff exchanged breaks in the first four games before Gauff held and then broke again for a 4-2 lead, then held again. But serving for the set, Gauff swatted a crosscourt forehand wide to surrender a break and Collins held to 5-5, only for Gauff to hold then break at love to take the first set in 53 minutes on the fifth of 13 Collins double faults.
After trading four breaks in the first six games, Collins broke at love to 4-3 and held twice to force a third set. Collins served for the match leading 6-5 in the final set, only for Gauff to break with a backhand crosscourt winner to force a tiebreaker. Gauff fell behind 2-1 but landed a mis-hit lob winner and never dropped another point, Collins hitting a forehand long, double faulting, and netting a backhand to 5-2 before Gauff blasted a service winner and ace to end matters.
In another match, the day’s biggest shocker saw Japanese qualifier Aoi Ito stun Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5). The 21-year-old beat American Katie Volynets in the first round for her first WTA 1000 level triumph and followed with her first victory over a top-10 opponent by rallying from a set and break down to advance after two hours and 27 minutes. World number 110 Ito saved a match point in the 10th game of the second set and outlasted sixth-ranked Paolini to book a third-round match against Spain’s 51st-ranked Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who defeated American Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-4.
Ito reached the semi-finals last October at Osaka in her WTA debut and claimed a 125-level title at Canberra in January, but until this week had not won a tour-level match this year. In other matches, DC Open champion Leylah Fernandez dropped her opener on home soil, falling to Australian Maya Joint 6-4, 6-1. Washington runner-up Anna Kalinskaya advances, the Russian beating American Ann Li 7-6 (8/6), 0-6, 6-3. Russian fourth seed Mirra Andreeva advanced to the third round in a walkover past Canada’s Bianca Andreescu due to a left ankle injury.
© 2024 AFP
