Photo credit: BNP Paribas Open Facebook
Coco Gauff walked the red carpet attending the Academy Awards for the first time this month.
Today, Gauff turned Stadium 2 into a house of horrors a times.
WTA Finals champion Gauff showed strong survival skills to survive a sloppy, windy and wild 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4) win over Moyuka Uchijima in her Indian Wells opener.
Relying on her speed, competitiveness and toughness Gauff coaxed a forehand error to convert her fifth match point snapping a three-match losing streak. It is Gauff’s first win since she beat Belinda Bencic in the Australian Open round of 16 last January.
Since then, Gauff had surrendered six straight sets losing to Paula Badosa in Melbourne, Marta Kostyuk in Doha and Mccartney Kessler in Dubai—all in straight sets.
Desperate to stop the bleeding today, Gauff overcame severe stretches of self-sabotage.
At times, Gauff completely lost the range and rhythm on her second serve—frequently dropping her head and left arm, collapsing her body and decelerating her racquet—taking the double faults into almost Anna Kournikova levels.
The world No. 3 clanked 21 double faults—five games worth of double faults—scattered 74 unforced errors, framed forehands all over the place and at times made the service box look as big as a shoe box double faulting away multiple breaks.
Still, despite blowing a 4-0 third-set lead and squandering four match points, Gauff showed her familiar fighting spirit to salvage a much needed win on a day when she was fighting her opponent, herself and conditions.
"I mean, the unforced errors, I had to go bigger towards the end of the match, and even in the middle, because I felt like she would dictate so it's kind of just take your chances," Gauff told the media in Indian Wells. "Then doubles, I've been in the practice of trying to fix things on my serve.
"I don't know. It was just an up-and-down process. It's tough out there. But, I mean, if I'm able to win matches playing kind of like D tennis, then it gives me confidence just when I'm able to mesh things together like I did earlier this season."
Ultimately, Gauff gutted out a two hour, 33-minute win that sends her into the third round against Maria Sakkari for a spot in the round of 16.
The 29th-seeded Sakkari swept Viktoriya Tomova 6-0, 6-3. A year ago, Sakkari out-dueled Gauff in three sets in the 2024 Indian Wells semifinals.
In their next meeting, Gauff will need to clean up her game considerably.
The first set went according to plan for the third-seeded American.
A back-pedalling Gauff thumped a smash winner holding for 4-3.
Gauff’s speed around the court seemed to shrink space of Stadium 2. Gauff dabbed a drop shot to pressure in the 10th game. Uchijima netted an inside out forehand to face set point.
The 2023 US Open champion extended the rally drawing another error to close the 46-minute opening set. Gauff won 16 of 20 first-serve points in the opener.
In the early stages of the second set, Gauff lost the plot on serve. Gauff coughed up four double faults in her first two service games of the set as Uchijima broke twice in a row for 3-0.
From that point on, Gauff often looked to be over thinking the second serve rather than stepping to the line, having a clear plan and letting it fly.
Uchijima may not possess one disruptive weapon, but she’s solid all around and continued pressuring the American’s serve. On her third break point, Uchijima drew the error breaking again for 5-2.
Holding a set point at 5-2, Uchijimi hit a terrific backhand down the line that would have been a set sealer against most people.
Gauff isn’t most people. Smacking a running forehand pass crosscourt, Gauff saved set point and fired herself up breaking back for 3-5.
Still, Gauff ran into issues on serve again failing at times to find net clearance as Uchijima broke to cap the second set and force a decider.
Despite the sloppy end to the second set, Gauff cleaned up her act—and amped up her aggression in the third set.
Stepping into the court, Gauff was hitting her forehand crosscourt with more conviction. Feeling the pressure, Uchijima double faulted away breaks in the first and third games and Gauff shook off her 12th double fault as she powered to a 3-0 lead in the decider. Gauff extended to 4-0 and looked to be on cruise control.
Each time it appeared Gauff had control, she created chaos for herself. Gauff slapped her 16th double fault off the tape dropping serve as her lead shrunk to 4-2.
Credit Uchijima, who toppled 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu in round one, for roaring back and repeatedly probing the American’s weaker forehand wing.
Serving at 3-5, the Japanese boldly saved a match point winning a showdown at net that helped her hold for 4-5.
On match point No. 2, Gauff clanked her 18th double fault then slapped her 19th double fault off the tape ceding the break for 5-all.
On her second attempt to serve it out at 6-5, Gauff saved a break point with an ace down the T only to hit her 20th double fault again double faulting away a break as the drama extended to the tiebreaker.
In a drop shot duel, Gauff poked a forehand volley down the line for a 5-2 tiebreaker lead. Sailing a backhand swing volley, Uchijima gave Gauff match points at 6-2.
Though Gauff’s forehand failed her twice in a row on her fifth match point she forced a final forehand error to escape an erratic stress test with a much-needed win.