WTA roundup: Gauff upsets Sabalenka
in Lexington
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[August 13, 2020]
Coco Gauff survived a match that
lasted nearly three hours on Wednesday to upset second-seeded Aryna
Sabalenka of Belarus 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 and advance to the
quarterfinals at The Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky.
Both players struggled with their serves in the first tournament in
the U.S. since the hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with a
combined 19 double faults (11 by Sabalenka) and 14 breaks of service
(seven each).
Gauff rallied from a break down in the first set, then blew a 5-3
lead by being broken in back-to-back service games. But Gauff broke
right back to force a tiebreaker, where she stormed out to a 5-0
lead before wrapping it up.
Gauff hung on temporarily late in the second set but then dropped it
on her own serve. In the third, Sabalenka rallied from a break down
to even it twice, but Gauff broke again at 4-4 and served out to win
in 2 hours, 48 minutes.
Sixth-seeded Magda Linette of Poland also fell to an American, as
Jennifer Brady cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory in just 68 minutes.
In other matches Wednesday, No. 8 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia overcame a
rough start to beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, and
the Czech Republic's Marie Bouzkova downed Russia's Anna Blinkova
6-4, 6-2.
Prague Open
Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic upset second-seeded Petra
Martic of Croatia 6-1, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals.
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Cori Gauff of the U.S. celebrates during her match against Sofia
Kenin of the U.S. REUTERS/Edgar Su
Pliskova, ranked 69th, had nice aces and just one double fault in
downing her 14th-ranked opponent. Pliskova will face Ana Bogdan of
Romania in the next round. Bogdan advanced when Ukraine's Lesia
Tsurenko withdrew due to a rib injury.
In Wednesday's other singles match, third-seed Elise Mertens of
Belgium beat Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-4, 6-2. Mertens will play
either Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek or Canada's Eugenie Bouchard in
the quarterfinals.
--Field Level Media
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