Coco Gauff started her new season the same way she did in 2023, winning her first match at the 2024 ASB Classic.
Last year, the teenage American started her season in Auckland, and it was a great start, as she won all of her matches without losing a set to claim the title. This year, she would like to do the same thing at the WTA 250 tournament in New Zealand.
But to do that, she will need to face and overcome another group of talented players, and her journey started in the first round against Claire Liu, who seems to be a very unlucky player when it comes to draws as she very often faces one of the top seeds in the first round.
The two met once before, and it was a two-set win for Gauff in Indian Wells two years ago, and this time around, she wanted to follow up on her win, after losing the last match of the 2023 season to her doubles partner Jessica Pegula at the WTA Finals.
The top seed at the event and the defending champion was very quick off the blocks, breaking her opponent's serve twice in the opening four games, establishing a very dominant 4-0 lead.
But despite not facing any break points until then, Gauff would surprisingly lose both breaks, and at 5-4, her opponent was back in the match, serving to level the score. But Gauff managed to increase the intensity once more, breaking her opponent's serve again and winning the first set 6-4.
In the second set of the match, the 2023 US Open champion broke her opponent's serve twice again, but this time, she was perfect on her own serve, losing only two points on her serve throughout the second set.
As a result, Gauff was able to win the match 6-4, 6-2, setting up a second-round clash with Brenda Fruhvirtova, who is also a teenage prodigy, who is only 16 years old.
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