Wimbledon: Gauff escapes past Sierra into 3rd round with three-set victory
London, July 1
Seventh seed Coco Gauff of the United States staged a remarkable comeback, winning six straight points in the final-set tiebreak to secure a hard-fought three-set victory over Sloana Sierra in a gripping battle in the Ladies' Singles second round at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Argentina's Sierra pushed Gauff to the limit, nearly pulling off an upset before the 22-year-old American fought back to win the match 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 in a victory after 2 hours and 8 minutes and reached the third round at the All-England Club. Gauff's resilience shone through in the pitched battle fought on No.1 Court as she advanced to the next round.
Sierra has played Gauff twice in the season so far, and things have progressively become more difficult for the American each time. She had gotten progressively more comfortable with the daunting prospect of playing the two-time Grand Slam singles champion, and that was evident in the scoreline.
After winning just two games in their first-ever meeting at the United Cup in January, Sierra pushed Gauff to the brink at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, holding a 3-0 final-set lead before losing six of the last seven games.
This turned out closer on Wednesday. Trailing 5-3 in the final set-- and 7-4 in the subsequent deciding tiebreak -- Gauff won six straight points in the thrilling conclusion to claim a thrilling victory in 2 hours and 8 minutes.
Despite losing in three tense sets to Anastasia Potapova last month at Roland Garros, Gauff's latest final-set heroics continued a trend for her on the biggest stages. She is now 22-7 in three-set matches at Grand Slams in her career.
Earlier, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka survived a spirited fightback from American McCartney Kessler to book her place in the third round of Wimbledon, recovering from 5-2 down in the second set and saving four set points before sealing a hard-fought 6-1, 7-6(9) victory.
Sabalenka will now face former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. Ostapenko delivered one of the day's strongest performances, defeating Croatia's Antonia Ruzic 6-2, 6-0 in just 66 minutes.
The Latvian wiped away memories of her error-filled first-round win over Harriet Dart, in which she had 13 double faults. She hit an impressive 34 winners against just 10 unforced errors.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Saw the highlights on Sports18. Gauff was down 5-3 in the third set and 4-7 in the tiebreak! Six straight points to win? That's champion stuff. But honestly, Sabalenka's escape was even more dramatic - saving four set points. Wimbledon is delivering this year!
Gauff is incredible at 22 years old - already won a Grand Slam and now showing she can dig deep. I remember when she beat Venus here as a 15-year-old. But I did notice she made a lot of unforced errors in the second set. Needs to be more consistent if she wants to win Wimbledon.
Sad to see Sierra lose after that fight. She's from Argentina but played with so much heart. Reminds me of how Indian players like Somdev Devvarman used to punch above their weight at Slams. Gauff is a superstar but Sierra deserves a lot of credit for this performance. 👏
I love that Wimbledon coverage is finally getting better in India with OTT platforms. This match was pure drama - those tiebreak points were edge-of-the-seat stuff! Gauff's record in three-setters at Slams (22-7) is seriously impressive. Hope we see more Indian players in the main draw soon. 🤞
Good win for Gauff but I worry about her going deep with these grueling three-setters. She's young so recovery should be fine, but you can't keep relying on comebacks. Also, Ostapenko looking dangerous - if she cuts the double faults, she can beat anyone on grass. Sabalenka-Ostapenko
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