Below-par superstar fends off Zidansek to reach Melbourne third round
Melbourne, Wednesday
Fifteen-year-old prodigy Coco Gauff set up an Australian Open blockbuster with defending champion Naomi Osaka on Wednesday, as Serena Williams screamed and shouted her way into the third round.
On a day when men’s seeds tumbled, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic strode towards his eighth Melbourne title and soon-to-retire Caroline Wozniacki lived to fight another day.
American teenager Gauff, showing a tenacity which is becoming her trademark, clawed her way back from a set down to beat the experienced Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Gauff, who bellowed and pumped her fists as she completed her victory, said her “will to win” had got her through the tough second-round match at a windswept Melbourne Park.
“My parents always told me you can always come back -- no matter what the score is,” said Gauff, who beat seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in round one.
Gauff also beat Williams on her Grand Slam debut last year at Wimbledon, and in another quirk, she faced Osaka in the US Open third round, going down meekly in straight sets.
Japan’s Osaka, 22, beat China’s Zheng Saisai 6-2, 6-4 but briefly lost her cool mid-match, hurling and kicking her racquet when she gave up a break in the second set.
“I was thinking that I really don’t want to play a third set this time,” explained Osaka, who is defending a Grand Slam title for the second time.
Former world number one Wozniacki, playing her final tournament before retiring, came from behind in both sets for a 7-5, 7-5 win over Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.
Serena shouted at the top of her voice during a testing second set against 70th-ranked Tamara Zidansek, before seeing off break points to win 6-2, 6-3.
“She was a really good fighter -- she did not just let me win,” said Williams, who can equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slams if she lifts the trophy.
- Wind ‘massive factor’ -
Earlier, Australia’s world number one Ashleigh Barty raced through 6-1, 6-4 against Polona Hercog, buoying hopes of a first home winner since 1978.
“It was very different end to end, I think the wind was a massive factor particularly with the new ball,” she said.
Djokovic also weathered the breeze -- which followed heavy rain on Monday, and smog from bushfires last week -- to beat Japanese wildcard Tatsuma Ito 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in 95 minutes.
“They were tough conditions, pretty windy and it was hard to know where the balls were going. My serve helped a lot to get me out of trouble,” said the Serb. -AFP
