Coco Gauff is into the Australian Open’s 3rd round and still unbeaten in 2025

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Coco Gauff stretched her unbeaten start to 2025 to seven matches and 14 sets by moving into the third round at the Australian Open with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over 173rd-ranked Jodie Burrage of Britain at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday. Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion and a semifinalist at Melbourne Park a year ago, went through a bit of a rough patch in the second set, struggling with double-faults and dropping four games in a row to go from a break up at 3-1 to a break down at 5-3. But when Burrage served for the second set, Gauff got back in control, using a four-game run of her own to end the contest. “It was tough. She was serving really well, so I was just trying to manage that, honestly,” the No. 3-seeded Gauff said. “She really stepped her level up in the middle of the second set, so I was just trying to be offensive when I could.” Gauff hit six of her seven double-faults in the second set, but was far steadier at the baseline overall, finishing the 1 1/2-hour match with 11 groundstroke unforced errors, compared to 37 for Burrage. Each of Burrage's final two service games ended with a double-fault; there were two in a row that made it 6-5. From there, Gauff finished the job as she continues to try to find improvements with her serve and forehand, two shots she has been focusing on since late last season. “She was returning well, so it put pressure on me on my serve,” Gauff said. “If I landed anything short, she was landing a winner.” Add in four wins in a row en route to the title at the WTA Finals in November — including straight-set victories over No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek — and Gauff's winning streak is now at 11 matches. Also a part of that run was a win at the United Cup team competition against the 20-year-old American's next opponent: No. 30 Leylah Fernandez, who was the runner-up to Emma Raducanu at the 2021 U.S. Open. Fernandez came back to defeat Cristina Bucsa 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday. ___ AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis