By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, August 10, 2022
No. 10-seeded Coco Gauff out-dueled Elena Rybakina 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(3) in a two hour, 49-minute Toronto thriller.
Photo credit: Getty
Adversity swirled around Coco Gauff at every turn today.
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina fought off four match points in the second set, Gauff's second serve crumpled when she served for the match at 5-4 in the third set and unforced errors were piling up.
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Today, Gauff shook off the stress and summoned running strikes to out-duel Rybakina 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(3) in a two hour, 49-minute thriller that sends Gauff into the Toronto third round.
On her fifth match point, Gauff drew an errant forehand return then pointed an index finger to her temple highlighting the mental strength she showed.
The Roland Garros finalist's resilience, focus, fast feet and some fantastic defensive digs down the stretch carried her past Rybakina in the first of what could be many meetings between the pair. Gauff hit 13 double faults in the match, but competed with intensity to prevail.
Gauff will face either sixth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka or Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo next.
The 27th-seeded Rybakina didn't reap any rankng point reward from winning Wimbledon as the Tours stripped The Championships of ranking points in protest of Wimbledon banning Russians and Belarusians. So instead of being seeded in Toronto, Rybakina battled for more than three hours beating Marie Bouzkova in her opener before facing Gauff today.
Rybakina lost her range committing a couple of errors and hitting a double fault to give Gauff the break and a 4-3 lead.
Serving for the set at 5-4, Gauff curled an ace out wide for set point. The 10th seed spun a forehand crosscourt to snatch a one-set lead after 35 minutes.
One hour into the match the pair played the longest point of the match as Gauff used her speed to extend the point and drag Rybakina to net. That electric exchange helped Gauff hold for 3-all in the second set.
In the second-set tiebreaker, Rybakina missed successive backhands giving Gauff triple match point.
Rybakina tagged a diagonal return winner to save the first match point. Gauff jerked a backhand wide on the second match point and Rybakina clubbed a forehand winner to save the three match points. On her fourth match point, Gauff missed a running forehand long.
The 18-year-old American narrowly missed a running forehand as Rybakina gained a set point.
In a high-quality 25-shot rally Rybakina moved forward and blocked a flat forehand down the line sending it into a third set.
Serving at 2-3, Rybakina dug in and denied three break points. Gauff kept coming. On the fourth break point, Rybakina did the right thing attacking a mid-court ball and was in prime position for a high volley but badly bungled a backhand volley well wide. Rybakina handed Gauff the break and a 4-2 lead dropping to a squat in disgust at her miss.
Struggling on serve, Gauff betrayed her cause, coughing up multiple double faults, including her 10th double of the day, to give the break right back in the seventh game. American came right back belting a drive down the line to break again for 5-3.
Serving for the match, Gauff was squinting into the high sun when she double faulted again. Rybakina read the serve down the T and flicked a clean forehand winner for double break point. Gauff netted her fifth double fault in her last two service games again donating the break on a double.
Deadlocked at 5-all, Gauff was two points from defeat at deuce. Rybakina netted a return and Gauff rapped a backhand bolt down the line scraping through a tricky hold for 6-5.
The Wimbledon champion threw down a couple of aces to force the final tiebreaker.
Seven straight mini breaks launched the decisive tiebreaker. Phenomenal defense from Gauff coaxed a forehand error for 5-3 On her fifth match point, Gauff zapped a return down the middle drawing a forehand error to close.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek won the first five games in a row streaking past Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 6-2.
Playing her first tournament since losing to Caroline Garcia on the red clay of Warsaw last month, Swiatek commanded the center of the court with her topspin forehand raising her 2022 record to 47-5, including a 27-3 mark on hard courts.
Swiatek will face either US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez or Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Defending champion Camila Giorgi converted five of six break points in a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Elise Mertens.