Coco Gauff falls in first match since French Open win, beaten by Wang Xinyu in second round of Berlin Open
Coco Gauff's French Open triumph caught up with her on Thursday (19 June).The world No.2 fell in her first match of the grass-court swing in the second round of the Berlin Tennis Open, upset by world No.49 Wang Xinyu of the People's Republic of China, 6-3, 6-3.It marks a career-best win for the 23-year-old Wang, and snaps the American superstar's seven-match win streak she accumulated in Paris.Wang, a qualifier in Berlin at the WTA 500 event, next faces Spain's Paula Badosa in the quarter-finals. World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka is also through to the quarters in Berlin on the opposite half of the draw."After I won the first set, I told myself, 'Let's take a minute and enjoy this... I won the first set against the French Open champion,'" a smiling Wang told Andrea Petkovic in the on-court interview following her upset."I was really happy with how I played today," she added. "I was serving good. I was putting pressure on her second serve with my return. It was a tough match, [but] I'm happy that I hung in there in the tough moments. I'm really happy to get through today."Wang was down in her very first qualifying match of the week, needing three sets to advance before scoring wins over Ons Jabeur (to make the main draw) and Daria Kasatkina (in the first round)."During my first match in qualifying, that was so tough... it just wasn't working," she reflected. "My team told me, 'Just fight for every point. And believe that you can do it.' So that's what I've tried to do."Gauff served at just 38 percent of first serves in for the match (22 of 58) while hitting seven double faults in the one hour, 15-minute encounter. She led by a break in the first set, but relented that lead and never looked to re-settle.The opening-match loss leaves Gauff in a lurch with Wimbledon set to start on 30 June. There are two WTA events for next week, though Gauff is not entered in either of them as of Thursday.
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