Top seed Gauff rallies to reach WTA Montreal fourth round

MONTREAL: World No. 2 Coco Gauff battled through another tough three-setter Thursday, rallying from a set and a break down to beat Veronika Kudermetova and reach the fourth round of the WTA Canadian Open.

The top-seeded American, who won her second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, again struggled with her serve but held her nerve for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over former world No. 9 Kudermetova.

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

Gauff arrived in Montreal having lost her tournament openers at Wimbledon and Berlin in the wake of her French Open triumph.

She struggled mightily in her first match in Montreal but came up with a win over Danielle Collins despite 23 double faults.

The numbers weren’t quite as ugly against Kudermetova, but 14 double faults were damaging enough. Seven of them came in the first set, as Gauff let a 4-1 lead get away.

Gauff dropped her serve to open the second set, but after breaking back to level at 3-3 she broke again to force the third set — where she seized a 2-0 lead and powered home.

“I’m sure everybody could read my body language,” said Gauff, who admitted she “got a little bit upset” with herself.

“But mentally I’m very proud of myself. The fact that I’m winning these matches not feeling my best is definitely something to be proud of.”

Her struggles on serve are especially frustrating, Gauff said, because she skipped last week’s tournament in Washington to work on it and felt she had made progress.

“I just would like for it to transfer to the match,” said Gauff, who next faces 18-year-old Canadian wild card Victoria Mboko, a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 winner over Czech Marie Bouzkova.