American teenage sensation Coco Gauff continued her brilliant start to the 2023 season by defeating compatriot Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-2, earlier today at the Margaret Court Arena.
Although the two Americans were meeting for the first time ever, it was the 18-year-old Gauff who ended the match victorious with another solid performance, following up her impressive win over Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu on Wednesday.
The world No. 7 had seven aces and 23 winners but made 27 unforced errors in a not-so-comfortable victory over the unseeded Pera, who committed 21 unforced errors in the first set.
The 2022 French Open finalist hasn’t dropped a set this year and will hope her hot streak continues when she faces world No. 17 and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round on Sunday.
En route to the fourth round 🔥@CocoGauff 🇺🇸 powers past Pera 6-3 6-2. #AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/ncBNsPJJbo
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2023
In the men’s singles, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime of Togolese descent was made to work hard for his victory by Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in their third-round clash that lasted for two hours and 35 minutes.
Auger-Aliassime defeated the 28th seed 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, at the John Cain Arena to progress to the fourth round for the third straight year.
The Canadian, who lost the opening set in his previous two matches in Melbourne, rushed to a 5-0 lead against Cerundolo.
The Argentine won the second set by securing two successive break points, but he was unable to get any break points in the third and fourth sets as Auger-Aliassime was too much to handle, sealing the win with his ninth ace of the match.
The No. 6 seed will play unseeded Czech Jiri Lehecka next on Sunday.
Sealed with a ninth ace on the day.
We’ll be seeing @felixtennis on Sunday!@wwos • @espn • @Eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/hxJvrQ820a
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2023
