Gauff returns to winning ways against Rogers in Doha

Coco Gauff finally won a match as the American took down compatriot Shelby Rogers in the first round of the Qatar Open.

The American did not have a particularly great stay down under but finally got back to winning ways in Doha. This event is a pivotal event for Gauff who has had confidence issues with her game for a while. For a while, it seemed like she plateaued but a great performance against Rogers changed that for her. It was a solid match overall for Gauff.

She avoided some of the things that plagued her in the past like double faults or serving issues. She served rather well the entire match hitting 8 aces which was very good to see. That also allowed her to dominate rallies on her own serve and she did for the most part. She faced only one break point the entire match and saved it.

On return, she was lucky to face Rogers who did not have her serve today. The American committed four double faults and did not hit a single ace the entire match. Gauff was able to exploit that as the young phenom won more than 50 % of Rogers' 1st serve points. That's a quick recipe for disaster and it certainly was for Shelby.

She lost the opening set with 6-2 and the 2nd one with 6-3 to get eliminated from the event. Gauff forced 8 break points overall and converted three of them. It's a good start for Gauff who was in need of some wins.