Tennis fans were treated to a rollercoaster of emotions as Coco Gauff battled back from a shaky start to secure her place in the last 16 of the Australian Open.
The 21-year-old superstar faced unexpected struggles early on, including serving woes and dropping the first set, but displayed her trademark resilience to turn the match around.
Gauff overcame fellow American Hailey Baptiste 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, setting up a clash with 19th seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic for a spot in the quarter-finals.
The two-time Grand Slam champion, who has yet to advance past the semifinals at Melbourne Park, admitted she had to dig deep and adjust her game after a difficult opening set.
“I didn’t make major changes, I just focused on getting more first serves in,” Gauff explained. “I wasn’t upset about dropping the first set. I thought, if she plays like this all match and I can’t elevate my level, fair play to her. But I was able to raise my level.”
Gauff also took a moment to call out a crowd member who made a derogatory remark toward Baptiste:
“Hailey is a great competitor. To the person who made that comment, we are all doing our best out here. Let’s try to be respectful.”
The match began positively for Gauff, who broke her 70th-ranked opponent in the first game under the Melbourne sun. Yet her serve faltered with two double faults, allowing Baptiste, 24, to regain the break.
After losing the first set and facing a potential upset, Gauff returned stronger in the second, racing to a 3-0 lead in just 13 minutes and sealing the set 6-0 in 35 minutes with a far more solid service performance.
Baptiste, playing in the third round at Melbourne Park for the first time, started to struggle under Gauff’s relentless returns. With errors mounting, Gauff broke again to lead 4-2 in the final set and never looked back, securing her spot in the last 16.
