Coco Gauff has won her opening round match at the Cincinnati Open; bouncing back from a shock loss to Victoria Mboko at the Canadian Open.
The American struggled for consistency at the Canadian Open, particularly on her serve. Gauff served an astonishing 23 double faults during a three-set victory over compatriot Danielle Collins in Canada.
However, Gauff seems to have found some form in Midwest America, defeating China’s Wang Xinyu in her opening match.
The victory marks a welcome return to form for Gauff, who has struggled since winning the French Open in June.
Victory over Xinyu marked new territory for the 21-year-old, as she is now rivalling Martina Hingis in a particular statistical area.
Coco Gauff rivals Martina Hingis after winning in Cincinnati
Martina Hingis is a Swiss tennis legend who became the youngest ever Grand Slam singles champion when she won the 1997 Australian Open at 16 years old. She also became the youngest ever world number one in the same year.
Hingis, who was Switzerland’s first-ever Grand Slam winner and world number one, was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013.
The Swiss star won 25 Grand Slams during her esteemed career: five singles titles, 13 doubles titles and seven mixed doubles titles.
Skipping ahead to 2025 and Coco Gauff has challenged one of the many records set by Hingis, after defeating her Chinese opponent 6-3 6-2 at the Cincinnati Open.
As per OptaAce, Coco Gauff has moved past her opening match in 36 of the 44 WTA-1000 tournaments she has appeared in.
Only Martina Hingis has won more opening matches in Tier1/WTA-1000 tournaments before turning 22. The Swiss legend won her opening match at 46 Tier1/WTA-1000 tournaments before turning 22.
Coco Gauff previews rematch against Dayana Yastremska
Coco Gauff has drawn a familiar foe in the Cincinnati Open third round: Dayana Yastremska.
The American was stunned by Yastremska in the Wimbledon first round, with the Ukrainian winning 7-6 6-1.
Ahead of their rematch at the Cincinnati Open, Coco Gauff discussed whether she was out for ‘revenge’ against the Ukrainian.
Speaking to reporters, Gauff said: “I don’t ever think of revenge-type of tennis. At first I used to think like that but then I’m like, I’ve played too many people too many times to have like a revenge mindset.
“But no, I think for me it’s a good measure to see where my game is. I feel like that Wimbledon match, you know, it was just a tough loss for me, and I don’t think I approached it as well, and Dayana’s… I always have trouble against her.
“She’s a tough opponent, great ball striker, can pull winners out of anywhere.
“So yeah, it’ll be a tough test for me, especially having to play her again. But you know I think I had more time to work on things on the hard court season and definitely I think a better surface than grass for me.
“So yeah, it’s going to be a tough match. But I’m looking forward to it, and hopefully I can do better than ‘Wimby’ [Wimbledon].
