Coco Gauff avenges Doha loss to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in Miami

Coco Gauff narrowly avoided a second straight defeat to Elisabetta Cocciaretto on Friday, the No. 4 seed rallying from a set down to defeat the Italian, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the Miami Open.

“The last time we played, I didn’t win, so I just wanted to overcome that feeling,” Gauff said on court after the match. “It’s been a tough week but I don’t know, it made me realize how much I love this sport and I love playing it. Even though it’s tough, I think I enjoy the ups and downs through the journey.”

Gauff fell in two quick sets to Cocciaretto last month at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open but weathered a slow start at her home tournament to advane in two hours and 15 minutes at the Hard Rock Stadium.

“She takes the ball so early, so you don’t have a lot of time to react. Today, I think once I got adjusted to the tempo of play, I was able to control the rallies when they went the distance.”

The young American arrived in Miami having suffered a rare mid-match injury at the BNP Paribas Open, retiring down a set and a break to Alexandra Eala, but was optimistic about her health heading into the second half of the Sunshine Swing.

“I may feel it sometimes on court, but I definitely feel it less and less every day, if that makes sense,” she explained during her Media Day press conference.

Gauff was nonetheless feeling the pressure from her first match against Cocciaretto, a world No. 44 who went on to reach the quarterfinals in Doha after scoring her win over Gauff. With the benefit of having already played a match in Miami, Cocciaretto was able to hit the ground running as Gauff continued to struggle with her range off the ground.

The reigning Roland Garros champion has dealt with inconsistencies on her serve and forehand throughout the season and while today was no different—Gauff ended the match with 11 double faults—she was able to steady herself just enough to dig back into the match, maintaining a consistent first serve percentage and winning 63% of those points.

Down a break to start the decider, Gauff roared back to win four games in a row and claimed a final break to edge over the finish line in just over two hours.

Up next for Gauff will be an all-American third round against countrywoman Alycia Parks, who upset former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari earlier on Friday.