Italian Open: Coco Gauff advances to third round with win over Putintseva
By IANS | Published: May 11, 2023 11:15 PM2023-05-11T23:15:05+5:302023-05-12T00:05:08+5:30
Rome, May 11 World No.5 Coco Gauff advanced to the third round of Italian Open after defeating Yulia ...
Rome, May 11 World No.5 Coco Gauff advanced to the third round of Italian Open after defeating Yulia Putintseva 6-0, 6-1 in her opening match, here on Thursday.
En route to her 59-minute victory, the 19-year-old American fired 29 winners while holding Putintseva to just one. While she served at just 44 percent first serves in, Gauff did not face a break point in the match. In contrast, Putintseva served at 72 percent first serves in, but was broken five times.
Gauff came into her match against Putintseva with a 2-0 lead in their head-to-head. The Kazakhstani endured a three-hour duel 24 hours earlier, defeating Viktorija Tomova, 6-7, 7-6, 6-0 in the first round. The fatigue from that effort was evident against Gauff, as Putintseva was a step off of her trademark defensive prowess. Gauff responded by overpowering her from the baseline.
"I usually have long matches with her. I was fully prepared for that. But I told myself to play on my terms, not her terms," Gauff said.
"She's obviously a tricky player, has some big wins. Made the quarters of the French a couple times. I know clay is her surface. It's also kind of mine, too, so it was a good match today," she added.
The American's performance was a strong recovery from her disappointing 6-3, 6-0 loss to Paula Badosa in the third round of Madrid.
Gauff will face 27th seed Marie Bouzkova next for a spot in the Round of 16. Bouzkova rallied from 4-0 down to Caty McNally to win 10 consecutive games before closing out a 6-4, 6-3 win.
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