Coco Gauff continued her flawless start to the season with a straight sets win over Leila Fernandez on Friday to start the second week of the Australian Open.
The American player, ranked third in the world and one of the favorites to win the Melbourne title, easily defeated the 30th seeded Canadian 6-4, 6-2 in the third round at Rod Laver Arena.
Gauff is yet to drop a set this season in eight matches having won all five of her singles matches in the season-opening United Cup, including a 6-3 6-2 win over Fernandes which was the only previous encounter between the pair.
“I think it was tougher because she knew what to expect, and I definitely think she played a little different today than she did in the United Cup,” said Gauff, who is on a 12-match winning streak.
“Layla is a great competitor, a great player, and a great person, so I knew today was going to be a tough match regardless of the score two weeks ago.”
Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals of last year’s Australian Open, her best performance at Melbourne Park to date.
She is scheduled to meet the reigning world champion and two-time defending champion on the same stage this year.
Before that, the 20-year-old will face Belinda Bencic, who qualified after Naomi Osaka withdrew due to injury, for a place in the quarter-finals.
World number 29 Fernandez, who lost the 2021 US Open final, qualified for the third round in Melbourne for the first time and found it difficult to deal with Gauff’s accuracy.
The American player pressed the gas in the middle of the first set and broke Fernandez’s serve strongly.
Gauff gave a double serve early in the second game, but serving at 3-0 she double-faulted to allow Fernandez to break and get a lifeline.
If Fernandes sensed an open door, Gauff closed it immediately, breaking again to make it 4-1.
Serving for the match at 5-2, Gauff unleashed two powerful backhand volleys – one down the line and one across the court – and sealed the win with an unblockable header in an hour and 16 minutes.
Bencic in Gauff’s goal after Osaka’s retirement
Gauff will now face Swiss Bencic, who advanced to the round of 16 after two-time champion Naomi Osaka withdrew during her third-round match on Friday.
Bencic won the first set in a tie-break 7-6 before Japan’s Osaka, who also withdrew from the Auckland final earlier this month due to the same abdominal injury, withdrew from the match.
Osaka said her pre-tournament MRI result “wasn’t great” but it came after two rounds, beating Caroline Garcia and Karolina Muchova in three-set matches.
But the encounter against Bencic, ranked 294th in the world at the start of the tournament, was a step too far for the 27-year-old, who said her withdrawal seemed “inevitable” after the strain she suffered in her abdomen in the tournament. Previous rounds.
“It’s not great, I don’t feel good, it’s not bad. Somewhere in the middle,” Osaka told reporters.
“It was a bit hectic trying to deal with it (during the tournament) because obviously the draw was very difficult. But we were doing everything we could as well. I was going to therapy every day and at night. So the days were very long for me. Obviously After my last match it became much worse.”
Bencic broke her opponent’s serve early to lead 1-0, but Osaka showed promise and quickly found her way to prevent the Swiss player from effective first serve and deep groundstrokes, while also maintaining her nerve to lead 5-2.
But Osaka, who won the title at Melbourne Park in 2019 and 2021, was clearly struggling and lost her composure when she failed to serve the set, with Bencic growing in confidence after two strong returns.
Osaka then called in a physiotherapist during a changeover, and although she initially continued after treatment, she was unable to continue after the tiebreak.
“I really feel for Naomi,” Bencic said. “I saw her suffer a little bit at the end of the set and it’s clear that this is not the way she wants this match to end.”
“I thought it was a good game, so hopefully she’ll be fine soon and can play well for the rest of the season.”
