(Beijing) Coco Gauff preserved four set points before defeating the 16e seeded Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (5), 6-2, Thursday, in the third round of the China Open.
The victory brought the American’s winning streak to 15, a streak during which she won titles in Cincinnati and at the US Open last month. Gauff will face sixth seed Maria Sakkari or local favorite Wang Xinyu in the quarter-finals.
Kudermetova led 5-4, 40-0 at the end of the first set. The 26-year-old Russian had four set points in this game, but she was unable to take advantage.
Earlier Thursday, ninth seed Caroline Garcia ousted Anhelina Kalinina 6-3, 6-2, setting the table for a next-round duel with world No. 2 Iga Swiatek.
Favorite Aryna Sabalenka will meet Italian Jasmine Paolini later on Thursday.
At the Shanghai Masters, Grégoire Barrère defeated Nonu Borges 6-2, 6-2 in the first round. The Frenchman will now cross swords with tournament favorite Carlos Alcaraz.
Stefano Napolitano, who advanced to the main draw after tennis player Marc Polmans was disqualified for hitting a ball in the chair referee’s face, bowed to qualifier Beibit Zhukayev 7-5, 7-5.
Other winners today included Rinky Hijikata, Lorenzo Sonego, Aleksander Vukic, Arthur Fils, Mikhail Kukushkin and Tseng Chun-hsin.
The top 32 seeds, including Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Félix Auger-Aliassime, earned a bye into the second round. The Quebecois, 15e world player, will meet next night with the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.
