Gauff Loses Third Consecutive Match, Raducanu Out In Second Round In Dubai As Well
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Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu both lost already in the second round of the 2025 Dubai Championships.
Gauff has been one of the best, if not the best player in the past few months. She won the China Open in Beijing, the American player also won the WTA Finals, and she started this season as well, winning the United Cup with the United States.
But in recent weeks, things went south for the 2023 US Open champion. She lost in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open to Paula Badosa. Then, she lost to Marta Kostyuk in Doha, and surprisingly, Gauff also lost in her first match in Dubai.
Her opponent was McCartney Kessler, who eliminated the recent Qatar Open champion, Amanda Anisimova, in the first round of the tournament. Gauff knew her opponent was in form, and she had to approach this match accordingly.
But the first games of this match were marked by missed chances from both players. Gauff had five break points she couldn't use, while her opponent had three unused chances to break.
When the balls changed for the first time, Gauff led 4-3. However, the new balls helped her opponent. Kessler dominated the next three games, losing only three points to win the first set of the match 6-4.
It was the fifth consecutive set Gauff lost, and she didn't respond to that well at the start of the second set, as she was immediately broken, falling behind 0-2.
But Gauff was still able to show why she's one of the most talented players on the WTA Tour. When her opponent was serving for the match, the 20-year-old broke back to make it 5-5.
It was 5-all, and it was game on, but not for too long. Kessler once again dominated the closing stages of the set, which was enough for her to win the match 6-4, 7-5, eliminating the third seed Gauff.
Emma Raducanu, on the other hand, ended her four-match losing streak in the first round of the WTA 1000 event in Dubai. But already in the second round, she took the 14th-seeded Karolina Muchova, who was too big of an obstacle for the Brit.
Muchova completely dominated the early stages of this match. She broke her opponent's serve twice to lead 4-0, and it seemed that the first set would be over very quickly.
But Raducanu was able to recover, breaking back twice, and she forced a tie-break while saving two set points along the way. It was a great fightback from the 2021 US Open champion.
In the tie-break, Raducanu had a set point, but Muchova was the better player when it mattered. She was able to win the tie-break 8-6, stealing the first set after it was almost stolen from her.
After winning the first set, Muchova played well at the start of the second set. She broke in the opening game, and after saving three break points, the Czech player won the match 7-6(6), 6-4 to reach the third round at the 2025 Dubai Championships.
