Coco Gauff moved into the round of 16 at the BNP Paribas Open on Monday with a straight-sets win over Maria Sakkari, but the No. 3 seed admitted she was disappointed with how she closed out the match despite the win. Gauff won 7-6 (1), 6-2 at Indian Wells, exacting revenge after falling to Maria Sakkari in last year’s semifinals.
“Except the last game, I thought I played a great match. Just trying to look at the positives,” Gauff said, via ESPN News Services. “Obviously I was a bit disappointed with the last game but that’s just the perfectionist in me.”
Gauff had been in control for most of the match until serving for it in the final game. She produced six double faults and had to save four break points before finally sealing the win on her sixth match point with a forehand winner.
The 20-year-old cited challenging conditions for both players.
“It was a bit tricky conditions. I think we were both struggling a little bit with finding the rhythm, and I was just trying to stay solid on my end of the court,” Gauff said.
Gauff credited the home crowd for helping her stay focused during a tense finish.
“Always an honor and privilege to play in front of this crowd,” she added.
The win sets up a fourth-round matchup with Belinda Bencic, whom Gauff has defeated twice before, including earlier this year in Melbourne.
Despite the late serving issues, Gauff played steady tennis throughout much of the match, particularly after a tight first set. She broke Sakkari to love in the fifth game of the second set and carried that momentum through until the closing moments.
Elsewhere in the tournament, fellow American Madison Keys defeated Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-7 (8), 6-4, setting up a meeting with Donna Vekic in the round of 16. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini also advanced.
“Overall in Australia I played some really good tennis, and I think the further away from it you get, the more you kind of forget about the lulls of matches and the moments where you weren’t playing great,” Keys said. “As great as Australia was and all the wins that I got, there were still some moments in matches where I didn’t play great or things got away from me. So just being really conscious of that.”
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