Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals.
Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie.
Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament.
Photo: dpa via AP
“After I won the first set, I told myself, ‘OK, let’s take a minute and enjoy this. I’m playing the French Open champion and I won the first set,’” Wang said afterwards. “No matter how the second and third go, I was like, ‘Let’s enjoy it for one second.’”
Wang had lost her only previous match against Gauff in straight sets on the Berlin grass in 2022.
“It was a tough match, but I’m happy I hung in there on the tough moments,” Wang said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The 49th-ranked Chinese player trailed 3-1 in the second set before reeling off five straight games. She played Spain’s Paula Badosa, the 10th seed, in the quarter-finals last night, proceeding to the semi-finals after Badosa retired following the first set.
Earlier, Sabalenka completed her match, which was suspended on Wednesday after the first set.
The Belarusian had to work hard on the resumption as the 112th-ranked Swiss Masarova took her to a tiebreak.
The win takes Sabalenka into the quarter-finals as she looks to build up her grass court form ahead of Wimbledon. The 27-year-old has won 20 titles, but none on grass.
She was last night after press time to face 11th-ranked Kazakh Elena Rybakina, who beat Czech doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).
Sabalenka is bidding to reach the last four in Berlin for the first time in her career.
In the first match of the day, 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, ranked down at 164, needed 2 hours, 20 minutes to overcome Russian 12th seed Diana Shnaider 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3.
She went on to defeat the Tunisian Ons Jabeur — the woman she had previously beaten in the Wimbledon final two years ago — 6-4, 6-1 last night to head into the semi-finals.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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