Coco Gauff is back in Auckland trying to defend her trophy at the ASB Classic from last year, and the next step is taking on Brenda Fruhvirtova.
If you think this name is familiar, you're right, but this isn't Linda Furhvirtova, but her younger sister, Brenda. The older sister already has a WTA trophy and is known as a talented young player, but the crazy part is that Brenda is apparently even better.
She's only 16, though, and is the latest tennis prodigy on the WTA side alongside Mirra Andreeva. Taking on Coco Gauff will be the biggest match of her career so far, so let's see what the youngster can do against a player who is a Grand Slam champion.
While this will be her first time playing against Guaff, it won't be the first match ever played this year. Both Gauff and Fruhvirotva played and won matches in Auckland, and neither dropped a set. The American bested compatriot Claire Liu 6-4 6-2 while the Czech prodigy bested Anna Blinkova 6-4 7-5.
It's very clear that the advantage here is on Gauff's side, and it's mostly due to Gauff being the far superior player physically. She's pretty quick around the court, which will give the 16-year-old a lot of trouble that she doesn't see on the regular.
She will be forced to play aggressively to counter Gauff's speed, and that's just unlikely to work out in the long run. Fruhvirtova lacks the experience for that, and the longer the rally goes on, the tougher it will be.
Anything other than an easy win for Gauff will be a surprise because she's proven to be quite comfortable in Auckland. All in all, an interesting matchup but anything but a win for Gauff would be shocking.
Prediction: Coco Gauff to win in two sets.