Coco Gauff is into a maiden Australian Open quarterfinal after an excellent display against Magdalena Frech.
The 19-year-old already received some good news before this contest. Gauff is assured to improve in the rankings regardless of how far she manages to go at the 2024 Australian Open.
Last year's US Open champion also entered this clash on a very impressive winning run at Grand Slams. Gauff joined esteemed company by triumphing in ten consecutive Grand Slam matches, with seven of those coming in her famous US Open run.
Frech's run to the fourth round was very impressive in its own right. It included a superb second round victory against 2022 WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia, and also a win against home favourite Daria Saville.
However, Gauff has been in very strong form in Melbourne. Playing the world No. 3 was always going to be a difficult challenge for Frech, and that was exactly how it proved.
Gauff stamped her authority on the match immediately with her famed backhand. She hit a series of winners cross-court and down the line to swiftly move into a 2-0 lead, with Frech left helpless.
The Pole did hold to make it 2-1, but that was as good as it got for her. Frech began to make several unforced errors, with Gauff playing with a lot of margin and moving her opponent around the court to extract mistakes.
Frech ended the opening set with just two winners but 12 unforced errors. It was all very comfortable for the American and she eased to the opening set, taking it 6-1.
The second set was more competitive. Frech struck the ball more cleanly from the opening games and hurried Gauff slightly more. There were many Polish fans inside Rod Laver Arena and they tried to lift her.
In truth, the scoreline in the set was somewhat harsh on Frech. Most of the games were close, and Gauff also had three net chords go in her favour, with the Pole not getting such luck.
However, the teenage star was still the better player and broke twice more to clinically wrap up a 6-1 6-2 victory in 63 minutes. Gauff could be difficult to stop in Melbourne in this form.
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