A week after having to withdraw in Indian Wells, Calif., fourth-seeded Coco Gauff prevailed in a tough three-set match over Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Miami Open on Friday.
Gauff pulled out due to a left arm nerve injury during a third-round match vs. Alexandra Eala of the Philippines on March 8. The Delray Beach, Fla. native pronounced herself fit to play in a tournament she desperately wants to win.
“Every day it’s different, but I think for the most part I will be fine playing this tournament,” Gauff said ahead of the event. “I might feel it sometimes on court, but I definitely feel it less and less every day.”
Her troublesome serve was a mixed bag on Friday afternoon. She committed 11 double faults but won 77% of her first serves in a match that lasted two hours, 15 minutes.
Gauff lost serve twice in the first set and once in the second set, but broke the Italian in the ninth game of the second set and held to even the match.
Gauff fell behind, 2-0, in the deciding set, but won four straight games and won the match on her third match point on Cocciaretto’s serve.
“Last time we played I didn’t win, so I wanted to overcome that feeling,” Gauff said after the match. “This week made me realize how much I love this sport. Even when it’s tough, I enjoy the ups and downs of the journey.”
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka had an unexpected tough battle with Ann Li, but came through, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in one hour, 42 minutes. The defending champion had 15 break chances, but Li fended off 12.
“She played incredible tennis — she was super aggressive, serving incredible like wow,” Sabalenka said. “It was a great match, a great level, and I’m super happy to get this really difficult win.”
All of the top 13 seeded players in action on Friday won their first-round matches. No. 3 Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan), No. 6 Amanda Anisimova, No. 7 Jasmine Paolini, No. 9 Elina Svitolina (Ukraine), No. 10 Victoria Mboko (Canada), No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova (Russia), No. 12 Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) and No. 13 Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic) all advanced to the second round.
In the day’s upsets, Romanian Sonia Cirstea knocked off No. 14 Czech Linda Noskova, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, Great Britain’s Katie Boulter defeated No. 17 Clara Tauson of Denmark, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 1-0 (ret.), Hailey Baptiste upended No. 19 Russian Liudmila Samsonova, 6-3, 7-5, Catie McNally edged No. 29 Wang Xinyu of China, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0, Yullia Starodubtseva of Ukraine prevailed over No. 30 Spain’s Cristina Busca, 6-3, 3-2, ret. and Alycia Parks defeated No. 33 Maria Sakkari of Greece, 6-3, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
