US teenagers Coco Gauff and Caty McNally on Saturday won their first pro tournament as a doubles team by beating the fourth-seeded duo of Maria Sanchez and Fanny Stollar 6-2, 6-2 in the Citi Open final.
“For both of us, it means a lot,” Gauff said.
Gauff, a 15-year-old from Florida, and McNally, a 17-year-old from Ohio, only decided to team up for the hard-court tournament in the US capital of Washington right before the deadline for entering the field.
Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY
“It was pretty much a last-minute thing,” McNally said.
They also won the junior doubles title at last year’s US Open.
Gauff shot to fame last month with a breakthrough performance at Wimbledon, becoming the youngest player to get into the main draw at the All England Club via qualifying, then upsetting five-time champion Venus Williams along the way to reaching the fourth round.
Gauff’s magical run ended with a loss to eventual champion Simona Halep.
McNally’s impressive showing in Washington included a run to the singles semi-finals, where she had a 7-6 (5), 6-2 loss to Camila Giorgi of Italy.
That came before McNally joined Gauff for the doubles final.
MEN’S SINGLES
The first meeting between Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas lived up to the hype on Saturday as the Australian saved a match point in a wildly entertaining 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7) win to reach the Citi Open final.
Kyrgios put on a show for the sold-out crowd, fist bumping with fans during the first set, smashing his racket in the second and mixing in tweeners, underhand serves and slick no-look volleys throughout.
Kyrgios appeared in control when he raced out to a 5-1 lead in the third set tiebreaker with a blistering cross-court forehand, but Tsitsipas battled back to get to a match point.
However, the Greek’s backhand return sailed long and, when Kyrgios earned a match point of his own, he consulted with a fan prior to his serve for the second night in a row.
The spectator seemed to advise him to aim for the top seed’s backhand and Kyrgios did just that.
Tsitsipas could only block the rocket back, setting up an easy forehand winner that ended the match on a hot and humid night.
“I just go there and I ask them where they want me to serve — and it’s two-for-two,” Kyrgios said.
The match statistics were even, with Kyrgios winning 91 points to Tsitsipas’ 90 and each player breaking the other’s serve twice.
“In the first set I was playing pretty clinical tennis, playing really well,” Kyrgios said. “I obviously went a bit nuts [in the second] and somehow was able to pull in back in the third set.”
Kyrgios had nothing but kind words for his doubles partner Tsitsipas, who will reach a career high of world No. five today.
“He’s the perfect example for any tennis player,” Kyrgios said. “His consistency shows every week. He’s doing all the right things and he’s going to have an amazing career.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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