Title defense launch: Coco Gauff overcomes early nerves to bagel Rakhimova in China Open debut

Coco Gauff began her title defense campaign at the China Open by defeating a tricky opponent, Kamila Rakhimova, in her debut. The World No. 3 arrived in Beijing with a tough mission: defending the title and 1000 ranking points at a delicate time of the season, considering the high number of points she has riding on the final events.

"Super happy to be back here. I have great memories here from last year. Hoping to make some more good memories here," Coco Gauff said in the on-court interview, after securing the 6-4, 6-0 victory. "I just haven’t had time. But maybe tomorrow or something. I wanna go shopping so I think we’re gonna go to some of the malls here today."

The 21-year-old star was the champion in Beijing, a semifinalist in Wuhan, and champion at the WTA Finals back in 2024: a 13-2 record in her last three tournaments with two titles, totaling 2,700 points. The pressure was on the American, who urgently needed to return to winning ways following her painful fourth-round defeat at the US Open against Naomi Osaka (3-6, 2-6).

"I guess the focus is really just building for next year and treating this part of the swing kind of as a pre-season almost, which I did that last year," the American commented before the start of the tournament. "Ended up being successful, so we’ll see. Yeah, I think at this point of the year it’s always just looking at how to get better for next year," she added.

It was a complicated start to the match for Gauff, whose nerves showed in her first service game as she faced four break points, but she managed to escape the complicated moment. Her opponent, Rakhimova, was coming off a win against Lucia Bronzetti—the recent Billie Jean King Cup champion with Italy—and was seeking to reach the third round of a WTA 1000 for the first time in her career.

The young Russian managed to keep things equal with Gauff for a good part of the set, reaching 3-3 without major differences. It was then that Gauff's higher rank showed, as she secured the break on her first chance and pulled ahead. In the following game, Gauff again showed her experience, saving a 0-40 deficit at a tricky moment in the match. The two-time Grand Slam champion managed to hold her serve until the end of the set, taking the advantage 6-4 after saving a total of 8 break points and winning 80% of her first-serve points.

However, from that point on, Gauff crushed her opponent. Rakhimova's serve collapsed in the second set—she won only 38% of her first serve points and 25% with the second. Gauff started with a break to love and then once again demonstrated her ability to play critical points, saving a couple more break points against her.

With Gauff leading 2-0, the most fiercely contested game of the match arrived. After five deuces—and three break points saved by Rakhimova—Gauff finally took the second consecutive break and maintained a strong run of points in the final part of the match. The American had no major complications and finished on a roll, delivering a 'bagel' with a 6-0 scoreline after just 44 minutes.

Gauff's next challenge will be against the tricky Leylah Fernandez (World No. 25), who had a flawless debut against Maria Sakkari, conceding only two games (6-2, 6-0). They have faced each other twice before, with the American winning both encounters on hardcourts.