Coco Gauff defeated fellow American teenager Ann Li in the first round of the 2022 Berlin Open, and she finished the match in a very interesting way.
Her meeting with Li was Gauff's first match since her excellent French Open campaign. The 18-year-old reached her first major singles title, not dropping a set on her way to that stage. Unfortunately for Gauff, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek was too good in the final.
The American also made the doubles final in Paris. Despite her and Jessica Pegula taking the opening set, home favourites Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic stormed back to triumph, much to the delight of the Parisian crowd.
Encouragingly, there was no sign of any hangover after those losses from Gauff in Berlin. Although she was not at her blistering best, she performed solidly to overcome her compatriot Li, 6-2, 7-6.
Although the match as a whole was enjoyable, it will be best remembered for the match point that sealed Gauff's victory, which was certainly unconventional.
As seen in the video below, Gauff was dragged out wide on her backhand side by a good slice from Li, who came into the net after it. Although the teenager's backhand is her strength, she was left with a difficult shot from behind the baseline.
Gauff then elected to hit the ball down the line, but she slipped and fell onto the German grass courts as she did. Despite that, she somehow got the ball over the net, leaving Li with an awkward volley.
Unfortunately for Li, she was unable to execute the volley, pushing it wide after trying to hit it cross-court. That moment saw Gauff win both the tiebreak and the match.
The French Open runner-up's exceptional talent was demonstrated during that point. Not many players could still produce a decent shot despite slipping as they hit it, but Gauff is one of those who can.
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