Coco Gauff survived a scare against Ekaterina Alexandrova to kick off her grass season in Berlin with a win, while Elena Rybakina got the job done in two sets to set up a round-of-16 meeting in the German capital against a former world No. 1.
Gauff, who is the top-seeded in Berlin this week and had a first-round bye, faced three consecutive set points in the first set but still managed to seal a two-set 7-6 (6) 6-2 win over world No. 20 Alexandrova to reach the Berlin quarterfinal.
Early in the match, it was a tight contest but Gauff managed to overcome Alexandrova in straight sets and improve to 3-1 versus the Russian. Gauff, who was a Berlin semifinalist in her tournament debut in 2022, plays in the quarterfinal against the winner of the match between three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur and rising Czech star Linda Noskova.
Meanwhile. No. 3 seed Rybakina also didn’t really have an easy job in the office, but just like Gauff, she was able to earn a two-set win after beating world No. 35 Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 7-5. Against qualifier Kudermetova – who won three matches before clashing Rybakina – the Kazakh needed an hour and 35 minutes to seal the win.
In the Berlin quarterfinal, Rybakina will…
