Gauff avenges loss to Kalinskaya in Dubai
No. 3 seed Coco Gauff needed to come from a break down in each units to defeat an ailing Anna Kalinskaya 6-4, 6-4 within the Dubai Obligation Free Tennis Championships second spherical.
Dubai: Scores | Attracts | Order of play
Two years in the past, Gauff had been on the receiving finish of a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 upset by Kalinskaya within the Dubai quarterfinals — a consequence that put the latter on the trail to her first WTA 1000 ultimate. Of their first assembly since, Gauff acquired her revenge, although not earlier than struggling along with her serve, the wind and her opponent went for broke whereas being bodily hampered.
Kalinskaya led 2-0 within the first set and 3-1 within the second, however took a medical timeout for therapy on her left leg trailing 4-3 within the opener. The World No. 23, who reached the Doha quarterfinals final week, tried to shorten factors with onerous, flat strikes from the baseline — a method that was solely intermittently profitable, as she racked up 45 unforced errors to solely 11 winners.
Gauff, who was coming off a gap loss in Doha to Elisabetta Cocciaretto, dedicated 12 double faults amongst her personal 33 unforced errors. However she additionally performed a number of excellent defensive factors — a sliced backhand winner off a Kalinskaya volley was among the many finest photographs of the match — and at all times threatened on return, with Kalinskaya profitable simply 46% of her first-serve factors.
“It wasn’t the prettiest one, but it surely was sufficient for right this moment,” Gauff acknowledged in her on-court interview. “It was fairly windy. I used to be simply making an attempt to regulate — each of us had been fighting consistency on the court docket.”
In her press convention, Gauff described the match as a “confidence increase” following her losses in Doha and the Australian Open quarterfinals to Elina Svitolina.
“Simply looking for kind once more, which is hard,” she mentioned. “Clearly, Anna’s a troublesome opponent. She’s crushed some high quality gamers, she beat me right here a few years in the past. I am proud of how right this moment went. Profitable whenever you’re not taking part in your finest is what I am most happy with.”
Gauff will subsequent face 2021 semifinalist Elise Mertens, who delivered a dominant 6-2, 6-2 rout of No. 14 seed Emma Navarro in 75 minutes. The 2-time main champion leads the head-to-head with Mertens 4-0, together with 2-0 on onerous courts.
