Miami: France’s Caroline Garcia upset world number three Coco Gauff, who beat the American 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open.
Garcia, who beat four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in straight sets on Sunday, continued her inspired form by defeating Gauffa on her home court in one hour and 43 minutes.
After a thrilling encounter that ebbed and flowed, Garcia, who is ranked 27th in the world, emerged to meet the winner of Monday’s match between Romanian Sorana Cirstea and American Danielle Collins.
It was Garcia’s first win against a top-10 opponent since late 2022, but her third career victory (3-2) against Gauff, whom she also defeated at the 2022 US Open.
“It was definitely a great match and a great win for me. And the last few months haven’t been easy. And it definitely means a lot today, after yesterday’s match. And it was great tennis,” she said.
Garcia said her strategy of playing aggressive tennis to put pressure on the American paid off.
“I always try to be very aggressive and take a little bit of time and Coco doesn’t really seem to like that,” she said.
“We’ve had some good battles in the past. I always try to go as far as I can with confidence and conviction in my shot. And adding a tie with Coco gave me the confidence to go for it, especially after yesterday’s fight with Naomi,” she added.
Gauff, who hails from South Florida, was disappointed he didn’t advance further in front of his home crowd.
“It’s a tough loss,” she said, “it was basically an up and down game. She played aggressively, which I knew going in, and I think it was really important for me to change the height of the ball.”
“I was doing well for most of the second set. And then to start the third with an early break, I think that changed the pace completely,” added the American.
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina defeated American Madison Keys 6-3 7-5 to set up a quarter-final with Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
Sakkari advanced with the transition after Anna Kalinskaya had to withdraw with a right thigh injury before their match on Monday.
Victoria Azarenka also advanced with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Britain’s Katie Boulter.
World number one Iga Swiatek is in action later on Monday against Ekaterina Alexandrova.
