No. 3 seed Coco Gauff rallied from a break down in both sets to defeat Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya 6-4, 6-4 in second-round action Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
Gauff overcame 12 double faults and 33 unforced errors in the 92-minute match, saving seven of 11 break points and converting six of her nine break chances.
“It wasn’t the prettiest one, but it was enough for today,” Gauff said. “It was pretty windy. I was just trying to adjust — both of us were struggling with consistency on the court.”
Kalinskaya led 2-0 in the opening set and 3-1 in the second set but was forced to take a medical timeout to treat her left leg in the first set. She finished with 45 unforced errors to only 11 winners.
Gauff called the victory a “confidence boost” heading into her third-round match with Belgium’s Elise Mertens, who posted a 6-2, 6-2 win against No. 14 seed Emma Navarro. Gauff is 4-0 head-to-head against Mertens.
“Just trying to find form again, which is tough,” Gauff said. “Obviously, Anna’s a tough opponent. She’s beaten some quality players, she beat me here a couple of years ago. I’m happy with how today went. Winning when you’re not playing your best is what I’m most proud of.”
No. 1 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan only needed 60 minutes to complete a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Australia’s Kimberly Birrell. Rybakina struck six aces and saved all three break points. Her opponent in the Round of 16 will be Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic, who outlasted Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-1.
No. 4 Jessica Pegula swept the last nine games in a 6-4, 6-0 win against France’s Varvara Gracheva. Up next is fellow American and No. 16 seed Iva Jovic, a 6-4, 1-6, 6-0 winner against Russia’s Diana Shnaider.
“I was serving really well, hitting all my spots,” Pegula said. “I was doing a good job of getting ahead in the service games. I felt like I had a little bit of a window, mixing up my spots and kind of going for some bigger serves and maybe getting a couple of aces here and there.”
In other second-round action, No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia received a walkover win against Daria Kasatkina of Australia. No. 9 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland was also a walkover winner against Czech Sara Bejlek, while No. 7 Elina Svitolina won the first set 6-4 before Spain’s Paula Badosa retired.
Romania’s Sorana Cirstea defeated No. 10 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4; Poland’s Magda Linette took down No. 8 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; and No. 12 Clara Tauson of Denmark eliminated Peyton Stearns 6-2, 6-4.
–Field Level Media
