Gauff crashes out of Australian Open against inspired Ostapenko
WTA
The first fourth-round match of the women's draw at the 2023 Australian Open brought a surprise, and Jelena Ostapenko surely wanted to cause another upset in the second one.
In the first match of the round of 16 stage at the 2023 Australian Open, the WTA World No. 1, Iga Swiatek, fell to Elena Rybakina, and at the same time, the seventh-seeded Coco Gauff battled against No. 17 Jelena Ostapenko at the Margaret Court Arena.
The two met once back in 2019, with the young American winning that match. Now, she had yet to lose a set in 2023, but that quickly changed when she took on the Latvian, who is known for her big hitting.
Gauff had a good start when she was the first player to break. However, she lacked efficiency in the moments when it mattered. In the first set, the teenager had a total of seven break points, but she could use only one of those.
On the other hand, her opponent had two chances to break, and despite the American winning 87% of points after her first serve, she used both of those and won the first set 7-5 in 49 minutes.
Ostapenko was the first player to face a break point also in the second set, but once again, while she could avoid being broken, Gauff couldn't do the same in the eighth game and that's where the match was decided.
The Latvian player broke her opponent's serve at the moment when she gave her very little time to respond, as Ostapenko led 5-3, and she was the next player to serve.
She didn't have any issues serving out the match and won 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 34 minutes, eliminating Gauff in the fourth round of the tournament.
Up next, she will meet the 22nd-seeded Elena Rybakina in a match of two Grand Slam champions in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Australian Open.
