Coco Gauff recovered from a slow start and an argument with the umpire in the second set to beat Karolina Pliskova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 and reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai tournament on Wednesday.
Third-seeded Gauff ended Pliskova’s 11-match streak.
The 19-year-old American built a 4-2 lead in the second set before a lengthy back-and-forth clash with chair umpire Pierre Baky. Gauff complained to Bacci that he called her serve out at deuce only after Pliskova returned it to the net.
Gauff had to repeat his first serve and continued to hold for 5:2.
The US Open champion said the controversy had “fuelled” her.
“Everything is fine. That’s just one point. That’s what happens in tennis. Players make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes,” Gauff said in his on-court interview. “Everything went up for me from there.”
Gauff’s next meeting will be with Anna Kalinskaya after the Russian defeated ninth seed Jelena Ostapenko 6:4, 7:5.
Top seed Iga Šviontek advanced to the last eight by beating two-time Dubai champion Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-4.
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina had a tougher time reaching the quarterfinals. She defeated Magdalena Freh 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4.
Svitak’s next meeting will be with sixth seed Qinwen Zheng, who eliminated Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-2. Rybakina has a quarterfinal match against Jasmine Paolini. The Italian beat eighth seed Maria Saccari 6-4, 6-2.
The other quarterfinal match is seventh seed Marketa Vondrousova against Sorana Chirstea.
Source: tennisnews.bg
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