Coco Gauff started her grass season at the 2024 Berlin Open with a win over grass specialist Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The American had a terrible grass season last year, losing early in Berlin and at the Wimbledon Championships. She described the loss at Wimbledon as the lowest point in her career.
She played fellow American Sofia Kenin and was beaten fairly comfortably to lose in the first round of the grass-court major. Gauff is looking miles better this year because she won her first match in Berlin, and it was an impressive win.
She faced the same player she faced last year at the WTA 500, but the result was very different. Gauff lost 4-6, 0-6 to Alexandrova last year but beat her in straight sets this year.
The opening set was a close one, as the Russian played fairly well. She's excellent on the green low-bouncing surface and has a good serve, which helps her. Gauff broke her serve midway through the opening set but also lost her own serve in the next game, so the set had to be decided in a tie-break.
In the tie-break, the 20-year-old came out on top, winning it 8-6 despite trailing 3-6. That comeback was a huge momentum swing because the Russian lost all of her good momentum in the second set.
It's not uncommon for her to lose confidence during matches, as she can be very streaky. When things are going well, she's really strong, but when things go south, she can struggle to find her tennis.
That's what happened in the second set of this match, as she quickly lost her serve and then once more to lose the match in two sets. The final score was 7-6(6), 6-2 for Gauff, who will be looking to follow up on this win in the quarter-finals against the winner of the match between the eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur and Linda Noskova.
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