MATCH REPORT | 2024 ASB Classic: Coco GAUFF overwhelms rising star Brenda FRUHVIRTOVA in swift showdown

WTA
Thursday, 04 January 2024 at 03:01
coco gauff citi open
Coco Gauff continues her excellent form at the beginning of the season, claiming a significant victory at the ASB Classic over Brenda Fruhvirtova with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-0. The young American secured her second consecutive win and progressed to the quarterfinals in Auckland, where she will face the winner of the match between Lulu Sun (qualifier) and Varvara Gracheva (8th seed).
Despite being only 19 years old, Gauff can already be considered an experienced player on the WTA Tour, having embarked on her professional journey six years ago. Currently ranked world No. 3 and with several titles in her career, Gauff rarely faces opponents younger than her. This time, the 16-year-old Czech player Brenda Fruhvirtova (ranked 117th) was her adversary.
Fruhvirtova is rapidly approaching the top 100 and is seen as one of the rising stars in women's tennis in the coming years. In this instance, she advanced from the tournament's qualifying rounds and caused an upset in the first round by defeating Russian Anna Blinkova (46th) with a score of 7-5, 6-4. On Gauff's side, she entered the quarterfinals after a swift victory over Claire Liu by 6-4, 6-2.
In the first set of the match, the Czech player demonstrated that she possesses the level required for elite competition, securing the first break in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Gauff strategically played to Fruhvirtova's backhand and successfully won the next four games in a row, including two breaks. Although Fruhvirtova managed to hold her serve again, Gauff ultimately closed the set 6-3.
In the second set, Gauff exhibited improved mobility and precision in her shots, outclassing the Czech player. Fruhvirtova struggled to keep up with the North American in rallies, especially facing challenges with her service. She only managed a 35% first serve accuracy, winning 33% of those points, and a mere 18% with her second serve.
Gauff claimed the six games consecutively without facing much pressure until the end of the match, achieving a commanding result of 6-3, 6-0 over Fruhvirtova in just 1 hour and 9 minutes. The 2023 US Open champion won 63% of the points played in the match, despite not performing at her absolute best.
The American had a first serve accuracy of only 55%, though it proved sufficient to prevent the Czech player from posing any significant challenges during returns. Gauff will face the winner of the match between Lulu Sun (qualifier) and Varvara Gracheva (8th seed) in the quarterfinals.

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