Gauff bests Yastremska to advance to Madrid Round of 16

MADRID — World No.3 Coco Gauff advanced to the Round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open after defeating Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday. English

Gauff bests Yastremska to advance to Madrid Round of 16

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MADRID — World No.3 Coco Gauff advanced to the Round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open after defeating Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday.

The victory is Gauff’s 29th at WTA 1000 tournaments since the start of the 2023 season. Only two players have managed more wins at WTA 1000 events: World No.1 Iga Swiatek and No.4 Elena Rybakina.

Gauff chasing new career-high ranking in Madrid

“I’m happy with how I played,” Gauff said. “In the first set, I wish I could have closed it sooner, but I was happy with being able to buckle down. And in the second, everything was smooth sailing as well.”

Gauff will face fellow American Madison Keys for a spot in her first Madrid quarterfinal. Gauff’s previous best result at the Caja Magica came in the Round of 16 in 2022.

Gauff bests Yastremska to advance to Madrid Round of 16
2024 Madrid • 10 hrs ..

MADRID — World No.3 Coco Gauff advanced to the Round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open after defeating Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday.

The victory is Gauff’s 29th at WTA 1000 tournaments since the start of the 2023 season. Only two players have managed more wins at WTA 1000 events: World No.1 Iga Swiatek and No.4 Elena Rybakina.

Gauff chasing new career-high ranking in Madrid

“I’m happy with how I played,” Gauff said. “In the first set, I wish I could have closed it sooner, but I was happy with being able to buckle down. And in the second, everything was smooth sailing as well.”

Gauff will face fellow American Madison Keys for a spot in her first Madrid quarterfinal. Gauff’s previous best result at the Caja Magica came in the Round of 16 in 2022.

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Coming into the match off a perfect 6-0, 6-0 opening-round win over Arantxa Rus, Gauff ran off the first five games against Yastremska to take her consecutive-game winning streak to 17.

“She’s an aggressive player, so I was trying to get her to hit off her back foot,” Gauff said.

No.34 Yastremska took advantage of a dip in form from Gauff to engineer a streak of her own. With the American struggling to protect her second serve, Yastremska won four straight games to get back on serve at 5-4. But the Ukrainian could not maintain her hold on the momentum. She put in an error-strewn service game to give Gauff the chance to break and close the set.

“It was tough playing, honestly, because she was missing a lot,” Gauff said. “When she started making balls it was hard to find the rhythm because I hadn’t had any. So I was trying to find the difference between trying to be aggressive and letting the errors come.”

Gauff raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set and, this time, the 20-year-old gave Yastremska no inroads. The reigning US Open champion closed out the win after 1 hour and 17 minutes. Gauff finished with 10 winners while holding the aggressive Yastremska to just 11 winners.

Gauff has now won 29 of her last 31 matches against opponents ranked outside the Top 30.

Gauff and Keys will be facing each other for the fifth time after splitting their first four meetings. Keys won their last match, on the grass at Eastbourne last year, 6-3, 6-3. Gauff won their last hard-court encounter, winning 6-2. 7-5 at 2023 Dubai.