MELBOURNE, Australia — Plenty was going badly for Coco Gauff in the second round of the Australian Open.
Gauff takes Cirstea
The double-faults kept coming Wednesday, nine in all. The deficits, too: First, she dropped the opening set against 74th-ranked Sorana Cirstea. Then, after forcing a third, Gauff fell behind by a break, ceding 14 of 16 points with a series of mistakes. Later, after getting even at 3-all, Gauff was a mere two points from a loss.
None of that mattered. As she already keeps showing, over and over, Gauff is not a typical 15-year-old. Not a typical tennis player, either. And by getting past Cirstea 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a little more than two hours, she now has set up yet another Grand Slam showdown against Naomi Osaka.
Less than five months after their memorable meeting at the U.S. Open — Osaka won that one in straight sets, then consoled a crying Gauff on court and encouraged her to address the spectators — the two will meet again. Like that time, Osaka is the major’s reigning champion and Gauff is making her debut at the tournament.
“I know what to expect,” said Gauff, who eliminated seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in the first round Monday. “I’m excited for a good match.”
She was not at her very best on a windy day against Cirstea but managed to figure her way out of trouble repeatedly. Gauff demonstrated plenty of grit, yes, and also enthusiasm, pumping herself up by shaking a fist and yelling, “Come on!” after most of her successful points down the stretch.
Late in the third set, Gauff was told by the chair umpire that a serve she hit didn’t count because Cirstea had indicated she wasn’t ready to receive the ball. Gauff said she never looks at an opponent before serving and asked for a head’s up next time.
When the point was played for real, Gauff won it and, from up at the net, stared in Cirstea’s direction and yelled. There was plenty more of that sort of celebrating the rest of the way, and Gauff was supported by a Melbourne Arena crowd that chanted, “Let’s go, Coco! Let’s go!”
Her father, Corey, was animated in the stands, too, except when he was squeezing his eyes shut at critical moments.
There were several of those for his precocious daughter, who was ranked only 313th last year when she became the youngest player in history to qualify for Wimbledon, then wound up beating Williams there en route to the fourth round.
Djokovic bests Ito
Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic avoided the same mistake he made three years go when he met a wild-card entry in the second round in Melbourne.
Djokovic beat Tatsuma Ito 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in a swirling breeze on Rod Laver Arena to advance to a third-round match against another Japanese player, Yoshihito Nishioka, who is coming off a win over 30th-seeded Dan Evans.
In 2017, Djokovic was upset in the second round by Denis Istomin who, like Ito, had earned his spot in the main draw by winning the Asia-Pacific wild-card playoff. That was Djokovic’s worst performance in Australia since a first-round exit in 2006.
His experience at Melbourne Park counted as the wind picked up in the afternoon.
“Credit to (Ito) for fighting to the end. Tough conditions out here,” Djokovic said. “The wind can get you out of your comfort zone very quickly.”
