After a month-long hiatus, and despite committing 23 double faults, Coco Gauff defeated fellow Floridian Danielle Collins in the second round of the National Bank Open in Montreal on Tuesday, July 29.
Gauff won the first set 7‑5, but Collins won the second set 6‑4. Gauff then prevailed 7-6 (2) in the final set.
The Grand Slam winner admitted to facing some challenges during the intense match.
“It was a frustrating match for me,” Gauff told the Associated Press. “I felt like I was practicing well, and then I don’t think I transferred it today, but hopefully I got my bad match of the tournament out of the way, and I could come back stronger the next round.”
Gauff, 21, the world’s second-ranked tennis player, said she played well despite making some mistakes. The victory follows her surprising loss to Dayana Yastremska in the first round at Wimbledon in June.
“I don’t really like losing,” she said then. “I just feel a little bit disappointed in how I showed up today. I felt like I could have been a little bit better.”
Before her Wimbledon upset, Gauff won the French Open, her first singles title at Roland Garros and her second Grand Slam singles title overall. She became the first American woman to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015. Gauff won her first U.S. Grand Slam title at age 19. Additionally, Gauff has secured several singles titles, including the 2019 Linz Open, 2021 Emilia-Romagna Open, 2023 Auckland Open, and the 2023 Washington Open.
Gauff, the top seed edplayer of the National Bank Open tournament, is scheduled to face former Top 10 player Veronika Kudermetova July 31 at 1 p.m.
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