American tennis prodigy Coco Gauff, who put up a decent performances in both the tournaments ahead of the Australian Open(Adelaide International 1 & 2), lost in her opening round match against the Chinese player Qiang Wang.
Gauff had a decent start to the match but lost her way as the contest progressed. While the American managed to earn points on first-serve, her second serve remained ineffective right throughout. However, Gauff managed to keep the margins tight despite losing the first set, 4-6.
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Coco Gauff struggled to play freely against Qiang Wang
The second set was where things went from bad to worse for the American. She started making more unforced errors from both the wings as Wang capitalized on Gauff’s sloppy shots and got a couple of breaks of serve.
During the sixth game of the second set, Gauff was serving to stay in the match as her Chinese opponent intended to close out the match to register a shocking upset on the first day at the Australian Open 2022.
Somehow, Gauff managed to stay in the contest and her uphill climb began then. As Qiang Wang was serving for the match at 5-2, the American youngster tried to stay in the hunt and pushed the game to deuce.
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But, it was too late as Wang was too comfortable in her own game as she demolished Coco Gauff in straight sets, 6-4,6-2.
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This was Wang’s first victory against Gauff in three attempts. The Chinese player also had the record of defeating legendary Serena Williams at the Australian Open couple of years ago. In an intense three-set encounter, Wang took the first set, 6-4.
Serena, with all her experience in the second, bounced back strongly to clinch it 7-5. In a riveting final set, Qiang Wang managed to stay firm and stood her ground to defeat the 23-time Grand Slam champion and reached the pre-quarters of the happy slam.
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Coming to this year, Wang will meet Alison Van Uytvanck in the second round.
Also read: ‘It’s BS’: John McEnroe Furious Over Novak Djokovic’s Deportation