Photo Source: TC
The game was shaky and the match was too close for comfort, but the foundation stood firm.
As the saying goes: a win is a win is a win.
Fourth seeded Coco Gauff managed her 15th victory of the season on Thursday in Madrid, slaloming to a 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Dayana Yastremska on the red clay of the Caja Majica to book a spot in the third round alongside American Ann Li.
There was a bagel set – in favor of Yastremska – and 48 unforced errors off the racquet of the 21-year-old, but in the end there was satisfaction in the problem solved. “I just tried to reset,” Gauff said. “She was playing great tennis. I just tried to be more aggressive and mixed up the way I was playing.
“I just tried to go for my shots – if she continued to play the way she was playing then she deserved to win the match.”
Gauff improves to 3-0 lifetime over the No.46-ranked Ukrainian, and 15-6 on the season.
She nearly didn’t get there in the end. After her first three match points went begging with Yastremska serving at 3-5 in the third, Gauff double-faulted in the next game to hand the break advantage back.
Not to worry, the American promptly engineered her seventh service break of the match and took the final two games to close out the win in two hours and 22 minutes.
Gauff joins fifth-seeded Madison Keys, 11th-seeded Emma Navarro and Ann Li in the third round at Madrid. Keys improved to 21-4 on the season with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Lucia Bronzetti, while Navarro took out Australia’s Maya Joint 7-5, 7-5. Li upset Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Four more Americans — Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, Alycia Parks and Sofia Kenin — will bid for the third round tomorrow..