Coco Gauff reaches Madrid third round with double bagel

 

[April 26, 2024]  Third-seeded Coco Gauff cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win in 51 minutes against the Netherlands' Arantxa Rus during the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday.

Gauff lost only 18 points in the 12 games of the match -- eight in the first set and 10 in the second. It was the first-ever double bagel posted by the 20-year-old American in a tour-level main-draw match.

"I played really well today. She's a great, tough opponent, especially on clay, but it was just one of those days for me," said Gauff, who saved all four break points she faced. "Oh-and-oh, I've never done that before, I'll probably never do it again.

"I knew how she was going to play. I know she grinds, puts a lot of balls in court, and likes to play heavy -- but I just felt like those are things that I can do well too. I felt like I could step in more, and having that match against Brenda (Fruhvirtova, Rus' first-round opponent) to scout her kind of helped."

She became the third woman with a 6-0, 6-0 main-draw win in Madrid, joining Victoria Azarenka (2011) and Simona Halep (2019).

Gauff's next opponent is Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska, who rallied for an 0-6, 7-5, 6-4 win against Emiliana Arango of Colombia.

No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland began her title quest with a 6-1, 6-4 defeat of China's Xiyu Wang. She converted five of seven break chances in the 78-minute match while saving three of four.

This is just the third time Swiatek has participated in this clay tournament (2021, 2023), where she will meet No. 27 seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the third round on Saturday.

"I love this place. I got to know the city a little better last year," Swiatek said. "So this time I feel more comfortable around."

No. 15 seed Liudmila Samsonova sent former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan home with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory in two hours and 22 minutes.

"I'm incredibly happy," Samsonova said. "I cannot believe that I won this match. I'm coming from not an easy period where I've lost some matches. And boy, it was crazy today, because I was 6-2, 4-2 up. And then, of course, (Osaka) played amazing."

No. 5 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece defeated Croatia's Donna Vekic 6-3, 6-2. No. 8 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia outlasted Slovakia's Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. No. 9 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 6-1.

Other seeded players advancing included No. 11 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, No. 18 Madison Keys, No. 19 Emma Navarro, No. 23 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and No. 32 Lisa Fernandez of Canada.

Also, Sloane Stephens knocked off No. 28 Elise Mertens of Belgium, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

--Field Level Media

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