Coco Gauff started a new chapter in her tennis career, and she started it with a victory over Clara Burel at the 2024 China Open in Beijing.
The young American is already a Grand Slam champion, but that doesn't win matches. She learned it this year, as she struggled to defend her titles in the United States, and after losing at the US Open, the 20-year-old made changes.
She realized that her terrible summer was a proper wake-up call, and she picked it up, reacting by parting ways with her coach, Brad Gilbert. While some were surprised by the decision, others weren't, as the American player clearly needed a new voice in her team and maybe a new approach.
She found that voice in Matt Daly, who she started working with, and the first tournament for the duo was the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing. As one of the seeded players, Gauff had a first-round bye, starting in the second round of the tournament.
Her second-round opponent, Clara Burel, played a lucky loser, Tamara Korpatsch, in the first round of the tournament, and she needed three sets to beat the German player, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
However, the Frenchwoman face a mammoth task in the second round, taking on the fourth seed at the event. Still, Burel was the player that started the match better.
She broke her opponent's serve in the first game of the match, and quickly led 40-0 on her own serve in the second game. However, the French player couldn't convert those three game points, allowing the 2023 US Open winner to break back.
Gauff then had multiple chances to go into a one-break lead herself, but she couldn't initially use them. That changed in the sixth game of the opening set when she broke Burel's serve to lead 4-2.
However, a terrible sequence followed for the fourth seed as she went from 4-2 up to 4-5 down, losing her serve twice in the process. Her opponent was serving for the set, but Gauff had two break points, leading 40-15 on her opponent's serve.
But Burel saved both, winning three points in a row to give herself a chance to end the set, having a set point. Yet, Gauff shifted the momentum once more, winning three points in a row to break back.
She then held her serve and in the 12th game, she broke her opponent's serve, to which Burel couldn't find response, as it meant that Gauff won the first set 7-5.
The second set was much more straightforward for the 20-year-old player. After failing to use her first two break points of the set in the sixth game, she used her fourth chance overall in the second set in the eighth game, leading 5-3.
Still, Gauff almost lost the one-break lead. When she was serving for the match, her opponent had two break points, but the American player won four points in a row to win the game, set, and match, 7-5, 6-3.
Now, she will be looking to add another win at the China Open, and her next opponent will be the 26th-seeded Katie Boulter. Should she beat the British player, Gauff could play against fellow Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka, in the fourth round of the tournament.
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