Tennis: Coco Gauff outshines Emma Raducanu to win the battle of the prodigies

MELBOURNE – Coco Gauff won the battle of the game’s bright young prodigies on Wednesday – then said she “got lucky” as she battled past Emma Raducanu 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) into the third round of the Australian Open.

There are 70 places separating seventh seed Gauff and 2021 US Open champion Raducanu in the current rankings, but the gulf was not obvious as the pair tussled for 1hr 42min of pulsating tennis on Rod Laver Arena.

The two good friends went toe-to-toe throughout, exchanging service breaks, but the turning point came in the second set when Gauff grittily saved two set points at 4-5.

“Honestly, one of those set points definitely probably had the ball on her racquet with the drop shot. I got a little bit lucky there,” said 18-year-old Gauff.

The American then edged past the Briton on her third match point in the tiebreak before they embraced warmly at the net.

“I just told myself to hang in there and I was playing really good tennis towards the end,” she said. “In a Slam, you have to win seven matches, you have to expect to play the best.

“Obviously, you hope it’s not in the second round, but that’s what can happen.”

The 20-year-old Raducanu, ranked 77th, showed no signs of the ankle injury that forced her out of the recent Auckland Classic, which Gauff won for her third WTA Tour title.

“Kudos to Emma,” added Gauff. “I know she had a tough week in Auckland.

“So really good for her to be able to play this level after such a scary moment.

“The whole match was great and, considering the circumstances, I can imagine both of us were nervous.

“This was a long-anticipated match-up since the draw came out.”

Raducanu was trying to reach the third round of a Slam for the first time since her shock win as a qualifier at the 2021 US Open.

Gauff is on a seven-match winning streak in 2023 and eyeing a first major win of her own after reaching her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros in 2022, before losing to Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

The pair know each other well from the junior ranks but this was their first tour-level match and they did not disappoint.

When Gauff first shot to prominence as a 15-year-old qualifier by beating Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2019, Raducanu was on the outside courts playing in the girls’ singles.

Two years later, it was Raducanu’s turn in the teenage spotlight as she won her first Grand Slam title.

But she plunged down the rankings in 2022 after a first full season on tour, hampered by injuries and patchy form.

Meanwhile, world No. 1 Swiatek wasted little time in reaching the third round, sweeping past Colombia’s Camila Osorio 6-2, 6-3 in a physical clash earlier on Rod Laver Arena.

The 2022 French and US Open champion is looking to win the Australian Open for the first time and reached the last 32 after 1hr 24min of gritty resistance from Osorio.

“The match was much tougher than the score says,” said the Pole.

“It was really intense physically. But I’m happy that I was consistent and I can play the next round.”
AFP, REUTERS