Coco Gauff snaps losing streak with gritty Indian Wells victory over Moyuka Uchijima

No. 3 seed Coco Gauff cut a frustrated figure on court more than once in her opening match at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday—and, frankly, the top-ranked American woman had more than enough reasons to feel aggrieved. Facing world No. 52 Moyuka Uchijima, Gauff racked up 21 double faults, accumulated more than 70 unforced errors, and found herself struggling to put away a player who may even have been feeling the effects of an abdominal injury as the match wore on.

But, as Tennis Channel commentator Chanda Rubin said at one stage of the third set, as Gauff finished off a long point by showing off athleticism at the net: "It wasn't pretty, but she got it done."

The world No. 3 snapped a three-match losing streak with a gritty 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4) victory on Stadium 2 in more than two hours, marking her first match win since beating Belinda Bencic in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Jan. 18.

"It wasn't my best tennis at all today, but I'm just happy to get through," Gauff confessed afterwards. "It's been a rough couple of weeks, and I'm just happy to get a win on the court.

"No one likes to lose, and I came in here with determination. It wasn't my best tennis, but a win is a win."

Though Uchijima entered the match 0-5 against Top 10 players in her career, the top-ranked Japanese player had posted a 2-1 record against major champions in the last three weeks, including a dominant performance against 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu in her Indian Wells debut on Thursday. And for much of the two hours and 34 minutes, she was more than happy to take what Gauff was giving her, and used a heavy forehand to open the court when the opportunity presented itself.

After two split sets, it looked like the American was on course for an easy final frame as she built a 4-0 lead after Uchijima saw the trainer between sets two and three. But Gauff twice failed to serve out the win in the third set, and needed a total of five match points to will herself over the line—with her struggles on serve the chief architect of that. She double faulted on match point at 5-4, again on break point to pull Uchijima level at 5-5, and a third time on break point in the 12th game.

A 6-2 cushion in the tiebreak, though, proved to be enough to push Gauff through to the third round at Indian Wells for a fifth time in five appearances at the tournament.

In the third round, Gauff will face No. 29 seed Maria Sakkari, who snapped a three-match losing streak of her own with an uncomplicated 6-0, 6-3 victory over Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova. It's a rematch of last year's semifinal in Palm Springs, which was won by Sakkari, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2.