After surviving a second-set scare against Jodie Burrage, in-form Coco Gauff enters her Australian Open third-round match with Leylah Fernandez, keen to avoid an upset against the one-time Slam finalist.
This is all new to the Canadian Down Under, with this year's progress marking her finest showing at Melbourne Park, and she bids to upset the third seed in their second meeting this season.
Match preview
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Gauff may have double-faulted two fewer times in Wednesday's victory over Burrage than the nine mistakes in her tournament-opening success over Sofia Kenin despite spending longer on the court against the world No. 173, but she was made to sweat.
Another straight-set win was not a fair reflection of events against the British player, who served for the set at 5-3 before the American No. 1 player reeled off four consecutive games to clinch the set 7-5 and seal a 6-3, 7-5 victory.
The upshot of the 20-year-old's 62nd Grand Slam victory continues her impressive start to the season to record a seventh triumph on the trot, all without dropping a set.
While that particular sequence nearly ended against Burrage, the 2024 semi-finalist's execution after her opponent's level slipped was admirable, and the one-time Grand Slam winner aims to secure a 14th Aussie Open success when she takes on a seeded opponent for the first time at Melbourne Park.
Having already defeated Fernandez this season in the United Cup, Gauff will back herself to advance to the fourth round, possibly setting up a meeting with two-time champion Naomi Osaka.
The third seed cannot afford to look that far ahead, with her Canadian opponent motivated to get the better of the 10-time tour champion after the recent defeat at the United Cup and losing to the United States player when they were juniors.
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The three-time tour winner demonstrated her battling qualities to avoid another round-two loss in Australia, securing sets two and three against Cristina Bucsa despite losing the opener to seal a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 success.
After suffering defeats at the same stage in 2023 and last year, the 30th seed has finally ended her Aussie Open hoodoo of never advancing beyond a second match after three consecutive tournament-opening losses from 2020 to 2022 and back-to-back second-round defeats before this year's tournament.
The 22-year-old entered this year's Aussie Open with a 29% win rate Down Under – her worst behind Roland Garros (67%), Wimbledon (40%) and the US Open (62%) – but has improved to 44% after making the third round.
With that, the 22-year-old has matched her best Slam result from last year, the third round in Paris, and another success would see the Canadian player reach the fourth round of a major for the first time since her run to the French Open quarter-final three years back.
Beating Yuliia Starodubtseva and Bucsa, opponents ranked 100th and 110th, is one thing; defeating arguably the WTA Tour's most in-form player is another.
That is the uphill challenge ahead for Fernandez, who aims to end her losing run against the American player in Melbourne.
Tournament so far
Coco Gauff:
First round: vs. Sofia Kenin 6-3 6-3
Second round: vs. Jodie Burrage 6-3 7-5
Leylah Fernandez:
First round: vs. Yuliia Starodubtseva 7-5 6-4
Second round: vs. Cristina Bucsa 3-6 6-4 6-4
Head To Head
United Cup (2025) - Group Stage: Gauff 6-3 6-2
Gauff took care of business against Fernandez at the United Cup in straight sets in the pair's first meeting on the WTA Tour since the current women's third seed dispatched her opponent in the Girls French Open semi-final in 2018 – winning in straight sets 6-4 6-3 – en route to the American's eventual success.
Having never dropped a set against the Canadian on the women's tour and the ITF Junior Circuit, the world No. 3 aims to keep that sequence going.
Fernandez enters Friday's match with a 7-19 record against top-10 opponents, though four of her victories were between February 2020 and August 2021, including three en route to the 2021 US Open final.
We say: Gauff to win in two sets
Top-10 opponents have defeated Fernandez in four consecutive matches and eight of the previous nine occasions.
One of those defeats came recently against Gauff, and the American No. 1 women's player should extend the 22-year-old's losing run against the elite to seal a fourth-round place.
