Coco Gauff sees off Jodie Burrage to advance to the third round of 2025 Australian Open

Coco Gauff overcame a brief second-set scare to defeat Great Britain's Jodie Burrage 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday (15 January), and advance to the third round of the 2025 Australian Open.

The No. 3 seed, hunting her second singles Grand Slam title, raced through the opening set, taking it 6-3 in just 35 minutes.

After going up 2-0 in the second, things looked like they would continue to go the way of the U.S. tennis superstar, but a string of errors and double faults opened the door to Burrage, who seized upon the opportunity to break Gauff at 3-3.

The Brit, gaining momentum while Gauff continued to struggle with her serve, went on a four-game run to lead 3-5, putting herself in a position to serve for the set. But an error-strewn service game by Burrage when it counted allowed Gauff to break back and retake control of the match. The 20-year-old took the final four games of the match to win on Rod Laver Arena and secure her place in the third round.

“It was tough. She [Burrage] was serving really well so I was just trying to manage that, honestly. On pretty much all of my first serves I was on the defence," Gauff said in her on-court interview after the game.

"She stepped her level up in the second set and I was trying to be on the offensive when I could," she continued. "I doubled [faulted] a little bit but she was returning well so it put pressure on my serve. So I think maybe next time mix up the targets a bit."

Gauff, undefeated in singles so far this year, will continue her Australian Open run against 2021 US Open finalist and 30th seed Leylah Fernandez. That match is expected to take place on Friday (17th January).

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