Indian wells
Gauff scrapes through despite double-fault disaster
Coco Gauff wasted five match points while double-faulting four times in the final game but managed to squeeze past equally error-prone Maria Sakkari -6 (1), 6-2 and into the Indian Wells Masters fourth round.
The American whose recent serving troubles have been legend barely fulfilled her third seeding with the chaotic victory in 97 minutes.
As she served for victory, the American produced five errors to nullify each of her winning chances while Sakkari failed to convert on four break points.
Gauff finally escaped with a winner into the corner to advance,
“It was tough conditions today, it was windy with both of us trying to adjust. But except for the last game, I played a great match.
“I have to look at the positives, though I’m disappointed with that last game.
“But this will give me confidence and it was better than the last match. I hope to do better in the next one.”
The match began with breaks in the first four games and did not lift throughout in the gusty conditions as Gauff dominated the opening-set tiebreaker.