Coco Gauff extended her flawless start to the season with a straight set win over Leylah Fernandez on Friday to enter the second week of the Australian Open.
The world No. 3 American, one of the favorites for the title in Melbourne, easily won 6-4, 6-2 in the third round of the Rod Laver Arena against the 30th seed from Canada.
Gauff has yet to drop a set in eight matches this season and won all five of her singles matches in the United Cup season opener, including a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Fernandez, the only previous meeting between the two.
“I think it was harder because she knew what to expect, and I definitely think she played a little bit different today than she did at the United Cup,” said Gauff, who is on a 12-game winning streak.
“Leylah is a great competitor, a great player, a great person so I knew today’s match was going to be tough regardless of the result a few weeks ago.”
Gauff, the 2023 US Open winner, lost to Arya Sabalenka in the Australian Open semi-finals last year, her best performance at Melbourne Park to date.
She is drawn to meet the world number one and two-time defending champion on the same stage this year.
Before that, the 20-year-old will face Belinda Bencic, who advanced after Naomi Osaka withdrew injured, for a place in the quarter-finals.
World No. 29 Fernandez, a beaten finalist at the 2021 US Open, was in the third round of Melbourne for the first time and found it difficult to cope with Gauff’s precision.
The American stepped on the gas midway through the first set, breaking Fernandez.
A double break at the start of the second set put Gauff in control, but serving at 3-0, she coughed up a pair of double faults to give Fernandez back the break and the lifeline.
If Fernandez sensed the door opening, Gauff shut it immediately, breaking through again for 4-1.
Serving for the match at 5-2, Gauff unleashed two ferocious backhand winners – one down the line and one across the court – to seal victory with an unreturnable lob in 1 hour 16 minutes
Bencic in Gauff’s sights after Osaka retires
Gauff will now face Switzerland’s Bencic, who advanced to the last 16 after two-time champion Naomi Osaka withdrew during her third-round match on Friday.
Bencic took the first set in a 7-6(3) tiebreak before Japan’s Osaka, who also withdrew from the Auckland final earlier this month with the same abdominal injury, withdrew from the competition.
Osaka said the result of her pre-tournament MRI scan “wasn’t fantastic”, but she came through two rounds, defeating Caroline Garcia and Karolina Muchova in three-set matches.
But a clash against Bencic, who was ranked 294th in the world at the start of the Open, proved a step too far for the 27-year-old who said her withdrawal seemed ‘inevitable’ after the strain she put on her stomach in the earlier rounds.
“It’s not fantastic and I don’t feel great, it’s not bad. Somewhere in the middle,” Osaka told reporters.
“It was a bit of a struggle trying to sort it out (during the tournament) because obviously my draw was pretty tough. But we also did everything we could. I went to therapy every day and at night. So the days were very long for me. Obviously after my last match it got worse.”
Bencic broke early to take a 1-0 lead, but Osaka showed promise and quickly found her range to keep the Swiss at bay with an effective first serve and deep groundstrokes, while also holding her nerve in a crucial hold for a 5-2 lead.
But Osaka, who won the title at Melbourne Park in 2019 and 2021, was visibly struggling and lost her composure when she failed to serve out the set as Bencic boosted her confidence with two fierce returns.
Osaka then called in a physio during the changeover and although she initially resumed work after the treatment, she was unable to continue after the tiebreak.
“I really feel for Naomi, I could see she was struggling a bit at the end of the set and it’s obviously not the way you want this match to end,” Bencic said.
“I thought it was a good match, so I hope he gets well soon and can play well for the rest of the season.”
