Coco Gauff, 19, called Caroline Wozniacki “an inspiration” and added it feels like the 33-year-old Dane never left pro tennis. On Sunday, world No 6 Gauff defeated former world No 1 Wozniacki 6-3 3-6 6-1 in the US Open round-of-16. After being out of pro tennis for two and a half years, Wozniacki returned to the game last month. At the US Open, 2018 Australian Open champion Wozniacki was playing her first Grand Slam tournament since coming back. āCarolineās back — itās like sheās never left. Sheās been an inspiration growing up. She definitely gets to a lot of balls. Sometimes I felt like I was playing myself. I knew I had to be aggressive today. In some moments I missed, but I was happy I was able to get back and focus,” Gauff said in her on-court interview.
Cori Gauff and Caroline WozniackiĀ© Getty Images Sport – Elsa
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Gauff defeated Wozniacki in their first-ever meeting
Wozniacki made a good start to the match as the Dane broke Gauff in the first game of the match and then also saved a break point in the following game to open a 2-0 lead. Down by an early break, Gauff didn’t panic as she broke Wozniacki in the second and eighth games to overturn the deficit and win the first set. After losing the first set, Wozniacki went after Gauff’s service and she was putting a lot of pressure on the American’s service games. After missing out on a total of five break points in Gauff’s first three service games in the second set, Wozniacki finally got the break she wanted in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead. In the next game, Wozniacki served out for the second set and forced a decider. After winning the second set, Wozniacki also broke Gauff in the first game of the third set. But Gauff responded in the strongest way possible as the American won the next six games to complete a three-set win over Wozniacki.