Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the third set to defeat American Coco Gauff for the first time in their four meetings, upsetting the defending champion 6-4 2-6 6-4 in the second round of the Cincinnati Open.
Returning to action this week after reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon, where she ousted world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, world No.34 Putintseva came from a set down to defeat Great Britain’s Harriet Dart in the opening round, then won four consecutive games in the third set against Gauff to secure her 13th career Top 10 victory. The second-seeded Gauff, who also suffered an early exit at the Canadian Open last week, committed 50 unforced errors, including nine double faults, as she lost her opening match in Cincinnati, where she became the youngest champion last year before going on to win her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open.
Putintseva’s third-round opponent will be Washington D.C. champion Paula Badosa, who cruised past Anna Kalinskaya 6-3 6-2 earlier on Thursday.
While Putintseva delighted Kazakhstan, her compatriot Elena Rybakina endured a frustrating defeat to Leylah Fernandez, squandering two match points and committing a slew of errors. The fourth-seeded Rybakina, playing her first match since the Wimbledon semifinals, struggled to shake off the rust after a bout of acute bronchitis forced her to withdraw from the Paris Olympic Games and last week’s Canadian Open. Her struggles were evident with 17 double faults, including two on match points while serving at 6-5 in the second set. When it comes to erratic play, Fernandez wasn’t far behind, committing 13 double faults, but she was much better in saving break points en route to a 3-6 7-6(3) 6-4 win.
In the third round, former US Open runner-up Fernandez will play in-form Diana Shnaider, who defeated Ashlyn Krueger 7-5 6-0.
Aryna Sabalenka secured a straight-sets victory in her opening match, defeating Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-3 6-4. The third seed will next face Elina Svitolina, who beat lucky loser Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4 6-1.
Fifth seed Jasmine Paolini, the finalist at both this year’s Roland Garros and Wimbledon, advanced with a 7-6(2) 6-3 win over Anastasia Potapova and will face Mirra Andreeva in the round of 16, as the Russian eliminated former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova 6-2 6-3.
Lucky loser Elina Avanesyan, the first player representing Armenia to compete in the WTA main draw, recorded two consecutive victories over former Grand Slam champions, following up her first-round win over Bianca Andreescu with a 2-6 6-2 6-2 upset of eight seed Jelena Ostapenko at the Cincinnati Open. The world No. 60 will play against tenth seed Liudmila Samsonova in the third round.
