MADRID – Fourth seed Coco Gauff overcame a challenging start at the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday night, losing the opening set without winning a single game before mounting a strong comeback to defeat Dayana Yastremska 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 in their second-round match.
This dramatic victory marked only the second time in Gauff`s career at WTA level events that she has recovered to win a match after dropping the first set 6-0. The only prior instance was four years ago when she defeated Elise Mertens in Eastbourne.
Gauff now holds a 3-0 head-to-head record against Yastremska, with all their encounters taking place on clay. However, this match was far from easy, with the decisive third set alone lasting over an hour.
In the final set, Gauff initially surged ahead, breaking Yastremska`s serve twice to establish a 3-0 lead. Yastremska responded by breaking back twice herself, leveling the score at 3-3. Gauff broke again to move ahead 5-3, but Yastremska displayed resilience, saving three match points on her serve before ultimately tying the set at 5-all.
Gauff secured a crucial break to take a 6-5 lead and then successfully served out the match. The contest featured numerous service breaks, with both players being broken in seven of their fourteen service games.
For Yastremska, this loss brings her career record against Top 10 opponents to 4 wins and 19 losses.
The match, played in Manolo Santana Stadium, mirrored the challenging narrative of an earlier contest on the same court. Second seed Iga Swiatek also had to rally from a set and a break deficit against 19-year-old Filipina Alexandra Eala to secure a three-set victory.
Gauff`s win keeps her on track to potentially surpass her previous best performance in Madrid; she needs two more victories to reach the quarterfinals. At 21, Gauff is also notably the youngest player to win eight consecutive opening matches in clay WTA 1000 tournaments since this format was introduced in 2009.
Up next for Gauff is a third-round clash on Saturday against fellow American Ann Li, who advanced by defeating 25th seed Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Jasper Hawthorne 
Dominic Ashworth