MONTREAL (AP) — Coco Gauff overcame 14 more double-faults to beat Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 on Thursday in the National Bank Open.
Two days after surviving 23 double-faults and a third-set tiebreaker against fellow American Danielle Collins, the top-seeded Gauff rallied from a set and break down against Kudermetova to reach the round of 16.
“It was a tough match,” Gauff said. “I thought I did well mentally, especially on the return. I was playing an opponent that served really well. Obviously, I would like to serve better on my end, but overall, just happy to get through.”
Gauff, No. 2 in the world behind Aryna Sabalenka, entered the week having lost two straight matches since winning the French Open, falling in her opening matches in Berlin and Wimbledon.
“It does give positives that I am winning these matches having literally one part of my game on a crutch,” Gauff said. “If I can stand on both feet, then I can only imagine that it will be a lot more straight-forward and a lot easier for me.”
Graf set up a match with 18-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 winner over Marie Bouzkova of Czechia in the night session.
Mboko is the last of the nine Canadians left.
“It was a very difficult match, I feel like, mentally and physically for me," Mboko said. “I’m just really happy to have come out with the win.”
McCartney Kessler of the United States upset fourth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia 7-6 (5), 6-4. In the next round, Kessler will face Marta Kostyuk of the Ukraine. Kostyuk beat 15th-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Australia 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Dayana Yastremska of the Ukraine knocked off eighth-seeded Emma Navarro 7-5, 6-4 in a night match. She'll face ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, a 6-0, 7-6 (5) winner over Jaqueline Cristian of Romania in the last match of the day.
Tenth-seeded Elina Svitolina beat Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia 7-5, 6-2.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
The Associated Press
