Coco Gauff is back to playing tennis, and she's looking really solid, but a tough challenge in Veronika Kudermetova awaits at the 2023 China Open.
Coco Gauff touched down in Beijing a few days ago, admitting that she's looking forward to getting back to playing tennis. She's put the US Open triumph in the rearview window and is excited about what the future brings, and it brought some more good tennis.
The first match was super solid, the second one a bit less, but she pulled through, demonstrating the newfound confidence she's had ever since winning in Washington. Now she's looking at Veronika Kudermetova, a player with a winning streak after winning the event in Tokyo by beating Gauff's doubles partner Jessica Pegula in the final.
Head-to-head:
What might happen here? Gauff has a decent chance of avenging her doubles partner because she had success against Kudermetova in the past. They played twice this year, and Kudermetova won the one in Doha while Gauff won in Stuttgart.
This version of Gauff is much better than before, so logically, you'd have to assume that Gauff would be heavily favoured here.
Prediction:
So, Gauff is favoured to win this match, but it won't be so easy. A couple of things are important to note: the conditions at the event. This match will largely be decided from the baseline and Kudermetova at this stage is the better pure hitter.
That's according to me because we've seen Gauff struggle with her forehand this week, even though she's far better with it than before. If Kudermetova produces her pristine hitting performance, then she can win this match.
If she doesn't then she won't. The major problem for her will be breaking Gauff down as Petra Martic struggled with that despite playing an amazing match so in the end, I do think that Gauff will win the match.
Prediction: Coco Gauff to win in two sets.
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