WTA Lexington: Cori Gauff wins roller coaster match against Sabalenka
The US American Cori Gauff reached the quarter-finals at the WTA International tournament in Lexington / Kentucky. She beat number 11 in the world, Aryna Sabalenka, in three sentences.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Aug 13, 2020, 07:09 am
Gauff won 7: 6 (4), 4: 6 and 6: 4 after 2 hours and 48 minutes of play. There were a total of 14 breaks in the course of the game, Gauff was already leading 5: 2 in set 1, but then Sabalenka made four games in a row and served the set. But Gauff countered.
In the second set Sabalenka was already leading 5: 2, in contrast to Gauff before she was finally able to close the set to 6: 4. In set three, Gauff then managed the decisive break to 5: 4, then she brought her serve through - in the end she made 12 of the final 14 points.
The 16-year-old celebrated the third top 15 victory of her young career, after her victories over Kiki Bertens (in her tournament victory in Linz 2019) and Naomi Osaka (Australian Open 2020).
"Playing the best tennis for almost three hours is almost impossible," said the world number 53. afterwards, but was still satisfied with her game - except for the serve. "You have good and bad days, and I risk a lot when I serve. It's a give and take." Maybe she thought too much, she said.
Gauff meets Ons Jabeur in the game for the semi-finals.
On Thursday, however, the match between Serena and Venus Williams is on the program. The 41st Sister Act is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. local time, i.e. 6:30 p.m. CEST.