Coco Gauff wins first match on grass this year at bett1open Berlin

Coco Gauff played her first match on grass this year and she proved more than comfortable against compatriot Ann Li 6-2 7-6(2).

Gauff is a very strong grass player and she made her big break on the surface by beating Venus Williams twice at Wimbledon. The teenager has since improved vastly and today was a rather solid outing on the surface that announced her to the world. She did not allow a single break point in the opening set mainly because she served very well.

She is capable of that but it's mostly her serve that is the shakiest part of her game on most days. Today it was excellent and it mattered a lot. The opening set was finished with 6-2 in just over 30 minutes of play. Her good play extended in the 2nd set as well with Gauff taking an early break 2-0.

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After that, both played rather well on their serves with no break points for either. Gauff was holding her lead for the most part but towards the end of the 2nd set, Li found some rhythm. She attacked and Gauff was unable to counter losing her lead. She broke Li once more setting herself up to serve for the match at 5-4 but lost her serve again.

She broke her opponent once more for the 6-5 lead but once again dropped her serve to send the match into a tiebreak. Eventually, she was able to finish the match in the tiebreak because Li misfired too much 7-2.