Dubai
Boatload of errors nearly sinks Gauff
Coco Gauff made a hash of her third-round match at the WTA Dubai event, but scraped through for a 2-6, 7-6 (9), 6-3 survival win over Elise Mertens on Wednesday.
The world No. 4 needed more than two and a quarter hours to construct her great escape, saving three Mertens match points in the second set tiebreaker to stay in the comeback chase.
Gauff salvaged pride after a less-than-average performance which included 63 unforced errors – 16 double-faults – a modest one ace and just 20 winners.
The third seed rallied form match points down for the first time in five years as she survived Mertens to reach the quarter-finals and earn her fifth win against the Belgian veteran.“The whole match felt like it wasn’t going my way,” Gauff said. . “It wasn’t the best.
“But I just tried to stay in it, and I did fight for every point. I’m happy I was able to get the result today.” She added: “
Elise is a great player, so I just had to stay settled. I knew I could win; it was just [a matter] if I could find my game. And I did a little bit at times, and sometimes I didn’t, but it’s okay.”