Rising star Coco Gauff melts down against Wang in Australia

Coco Gauff arrived in Melbourne in high spirits after a solid run in Adelaide ready to take on the challenge on the first season grand slam. The challenge proved too much for Gauff who completely fell apart in a match she should have won rather easily. She faced off against Qiang Wang, a tricky player that is ranked outside of the top 100 and out of form.

It did not matter for Gauff who essentially beat herself in a match where her level was dropping off sharpy every game. She lost her serve pretty early in the first set and never got it back. Not only did Gauff fail to break back, but she also did not even generate a break point the entire first set. There was no pressure on Qiang and the American just kept on missing.

That got particularly bad in the 2nd set where Gauff could neither hit a forehand nor backhand. The Chinese player just pushed the ball back and waited, with great success. Gauff was fuming but that did not help her cause either. The Chinese player served for the match at 5-0 nearly completing the bagel but Gauff was able to save herself from that.

In the end, the Chinese player won with 6-4 6-2 and moved on. A shocking display by Gauff who is not having a very good start of the year, despite a solid run in Adelaide.