"Yes I could’ve won in straight sets, but I mentally prepared myself": Calm and collected Coco as Gauff survives mid match wobble in Stuttgart

Coco Gauff was made to work for her opening round victory at the 2023 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, outlasting Veronika Kudermetova in a tight three-set encounter on Wednesday.

The fifth seed scored a 6-2 4-6 7-6(3) win over her opponent, eventually prevailing after a nerve-wracking final set. Although Gauff cruised through the opening set, her level of play dropped, allowing her Russian adversary back into the set.

The American called on her big-match experience to prevail in the third-set tiebreaker, and later admitted she had not fully made the transition in terms of court surface.

"She started to play better & I started to play more passive," said the World No.6. "Against her, you can’t really do that...I was on hard courts in the US 3 days ago so I knew it was gonna be tough.

"Yes I could’ve won in straight sets, but I mentally prepared myself.”

Gauff will face Anastasia Potapova for a spot in the quarterfinals.