Coco Gauff extended her winning streak on the WTA Tour to 15 matches this season after defeating Veronika Kudermetova 7-6(5) 6-2 in the third round of the China Open on Thursday.
Gauff’s most recent setback came in the quarter-finals of the Montreal Open following her victory in Washington, and the 19-year-old has been an unstoppable force ever since, capturing the Cincinnati title and her first Grand Slam title at her home US Open.
In her Beijing debut, the world number three defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova then struggled past Petra Martic.
She played a determined opening set against Kudermetova, laying the groundwork for her second career victory against the Tokyo champion.
“I’m really happy with how I’ve been able to manage. I had trouble finding the way I wanted to play in these conditions. I felt like the balls were flying in the first match and playing passive in the second,” Gauff said.
Gauff will next face sixth seed Maria Sakkari in a replay of their title match in Washington.