Victoria Azarenka defeats Sloane Stephens, and Coco Gauff easily defeats Yulia Putintseva to advance in the Italian Open
Posted : 11 May 2023
At the Italian Open in Rome, Coco Gauff defeated Yulia Putintseva with little difficulty, winning 6-0, 6-1.
The sixth seed won seven straight games as she dominated the first set and took control of play before Putintseva came back to win a game and earn the cheers of the Rome crowd.
But it would only serve as a consolation, as Gauff stormed through the following five matches to establish herself in her Rome debut.
The American was relentless from start to finish and wrapped up a glowing performance to move into the round of 32 in less than an hour.
Sloane Stephens was defeated earlier by Victoria Azarenka, who won her opening round 6-4, 6-3.
On Thursday, the two former world No. 1s began play, and despite the Belarusian's straight-set victory, she had to work hard for her one-hour, 42-minute victory.
When Stephens twice led Azarenka by a break in the first set and once again in the second, she appeared to be in good shape to extend her six-game winning streak.
However, when the two started to respond to one another's shifting strategies, Azarenka proved to be too aggressive for Stephens.
The 33-year-old used her powerful backhand game to widen the court, which was essential for her as she made her way through the match.
When Stephens threatened to tie the match, Azarenka dropped serve, but she recovered to win the final two games of the match after breaking for 4-2 in the second set after coming through five deuces.
The third seed Jessica Pegula plays fellow American Taylor Townsend later on, and the fifth seed Caroline Garcia takes on Ana Bogdan.
ADD A COMMENT :
Hot Topics
User name is required Email Id is required Comment is required
ADD A COMMENT :