By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday January 18, 2023
The highly anticipated first-time battle between two rising talents goes to the American.
Photo Source: Getty
The first tour-level meeting between Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu was a high-octane battle that featured plenty of scintillating exchanges, some erratic shots and enough drama to wet the whistle of fans who are sure to see a lot more versions of the matchup in the years to come.
Though it wasn’t perfect tennis (there were 30 combined winners and 83 unforced errors), Gauff’s 6-3, 7-6(4) triumph over the 2021 US Open champion had plenty of sizzle and proved a promising glimpse of what women’s tennis might look like in the years to come.
Fleet of foot, uber aggressive and in possession of plenty of pop, both Gauff and Raducanu had their moments in the one hour and 42-minute tilt, as they attacked one another relentlessly. But it was the 18-year-old American who played the bigger points better, and that made all the difference. Gauff saved six of seven break points to win the first set, then saved a pair of set points in the second before battening down the hatches in the second-set tiebreak to cut the evening shorter than most spectators would have liked.
Gauff, who came in hot after winning the title at Auckland, remains undefeated on the season, at 7-0. Raducanu leaves feeling a little undercooked. Her pre-season curtailed by an ankle injury at Auckland, she surely could have benefitted from a few more matches and the confidence that might have come with it against Gauff.
Still the British star was there from start to finish and had her chances to force the No.7 seed to a deciding set. There’s certainly no shame in that.
Gauff moves into the third round, where she could either face rising Chinese Zheng Qinwen, the 29th seed, or American Bernarda Pera.
The American is two victories shy of her longest career winning streak, and if she manages to match it here in Melbourne, she could find herself staring across the net at World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.
There isn’t a more daunting challenge in the sport at the moment, and Gauff will surely embrace the opportunity to face the woman who defeated her handily in last year's Roland-Garros final if it comes her way.