Top-Seeded Gauff Stages Comeback to Secure Spot in WTA Montreal’s Fourth Round

Despite being the top-seeded player and fresh off her Grand Slam victory at Roland Garros, Gauff faced issues with her serving but managed to secure a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over former world number nine Kudermetova.

“The goal of the game is to survive and advance,” Gauff commented. “It’s not my best, but it was good enough for today and that’s all I can ask for.”

Gauff entered Montreal with early exits from her previous tournaments at Wimbledon and Berlin following her French Open success.

Her initial match in Montreal proved challenging, but she succeeded against Danielle Collins despite committing 23 double faults.

The match against Kudermetova presented fewer issues, but 14 double faults still posed a severe challenge.

She faltered with seven double faults in the first set, allowing a 4-1 lead to slip away.

In the opening game of the second set, three more double faults gave Kudermetova a service break, but Gauff fought back to level the score at 3-3 and eventually claimed the set, before powering to victory in the third.

“I’m sure everybody could read my body language,” Gauff noted, acknowledging her evident frustration.

“But mentally I’m very proud of myself. There’s clearly areas to improve, one of those being my serve. However, the fact that I’m winning these matches not feeling my best is something to cherish.”

In other third-round highlights, American McCartney Kessler caused an upset by defeating world number five Mirra Andreeva. Although Andreeva began strong, Kessler secured a 7-6, 6-4 victory.

The 18-year-old Russian Andreeva, who stirred the WTA earlier this year with consecutive 1000 level victories, participated in her first tournament after a Wimbledon quarter-final appearance, and her first match this week, following a first-round bye and a second-round walkover.

Andreeva started with a 3-1 lead, but Kessler twice reclaimed a break. After Andreeva was unable to clinch the opening set twice during her serves, Kessler dominated the last three points of the tiebreaker to take the set.

Kessler took the lead in the second set, breaking Andreeva twice for a 4-1 advantage.

The situation worsened for Andreeva after a hard fall in the second set, necessitating medical attention for her left ankle, a potential concern as the US Open nears on August 24.

Kessler seeks her first WTA 1000 quarter-final appearance against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who defeated Daria Kasatkina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.

bb/acb

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.