Coco Gauff needed to battle following a sizzling first set on Tuesday to complete a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Ann Li to reach the fourth round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters. The 2023 champion had it all her own way in the opening set against her 29th-ranked American compatriot, but it proved more difficult to close the match out in a tight second set. After Gauff swept the first in 30 minutes, the pair exchanged early breaks in the second on the way to a tie-breaker.
Coco Gauff needed to battle following a sizzling first set on Tuesday to complete a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Ann Li to reach the fourth round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters.
“I tried to forget about those. “It was hard to control the ball for both of us and it was my first time playing a day match on this center court so I had to adjust to that. “In the first I was in command and she had unforced errors here and there. “It turned into a match of mentality and physicality.
Gauff sprinted to a 4-1 lead and closed out victory on her third match point. Tjen saved two match points as Andreeva served for the win leading 5-4 and another in the tie-breaker before putting a return wide.
“She played better in the second set and I missed a couple of break opportunities,” Gauff said. “It was two completely different sets,” Andreeva said. “Unfortunately I tried my best to recover but the injury I sustained in Toronto and also pushed by the second round match, I didn’t recover as I wish I could to get ready for my next round,” the Ukrainian said in a statement.
It was not easy — I had a lot of opportunities to close it out earlier, but even like this I’m super happy.
