Melbourne: Coco Gauff avoided the early Day 4 upsets at the Australian Open when she advanced to the third round with a 7-6 (6), 6-2 win over fellow American Caroline Dolehide.
While sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur and former top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki were eliminated by two young Russian players, Gauff battled through a tough first set before pulling away in the second.
Dolehide served for the opening set at 6-5 before US Open champion Gauff took control in the tiebreaker.
“It was really hard,” Gauff said. “If you give her something short, she’s going to punish you for it, so if I could go back and do something I’d change that.”
Gauff will next play another American, Alycia Parks, who reached the third round of a Grans Slam singles tournament for the first time with a 7-5, 6-4 win over 32nd-ranked Leylah Fernandez.
Jabeur, the runner-up at Wimbledon in each of the past two years, made 24 unforced errors as she was beaten 6-0, 6-2 by 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva in 54 minutes.
“I was really nervous before the match because I’m really inspired by Ons and the way she plays,” said Andreeva, who lost in the final of the junior event here last year. “Before I started on the WTA Tour, I always watched her matches and was always so inspired. Now I had the chance to play against her.”
It is the second successive year that Jabeur has lost in the second round in Melbourne.
Wozniacki, the winner at Melbourne Park in 2018, was beaten 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 by 20-year-old Maria Tomafeeva, who is making her main draw Grand Slam singles debut this year.
Wozniacki, who had two children before returning to the WTA Tour last year after 3 1-2 years away, led by a set and 2-0 before Tomafeeva turned the match around with some devastating hitting, including 40 winners.
“I’m really a bit speechless now,” Tomafeeva said. “It was an honor to play here against Caroline today. I was going into the match without any expectations. I enjoyed every second of it.”
Wozniacki said the match “slid out of my hands . . . It definitely disappointing,”
Jabeur and Wozniacki played their matches under the roof, on Rod Laver Arena and John Cain Arena, respectively, with rain causing the start of matches on the outside courts to be delayed for three hours.
In men’s matches, fourth-seeded Jannick Sinner beat Jesper de Jong 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 on Margaret Court Arena, the third stadium at Melbourne Park with a retractable roof. Alex de Minaur, the 10th-seeded Australian, defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-0, 6-3.
Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka headline the night matches later Wednesday.
Sabalenka, who won her first Grand Slam singles title here 12 months ago, faces Brenda Fruhvirtova, a 16-year-old Czech player. Novak Djokovic, a 10-time winner of the event, plays local hope Alexei Popyrin.
AP