Coco Gauff ended Emma Raducanu’s hopes of a revival with a relatively easy 6-3, 7-6 (4) win on Wednesday evening in Melbourne.
Raducanu sealed her own fate in an error-strewn performance with 21 unforced errors to gift the first set to the American.
Raducanu rallied from 4-2 down to earn set points in the 10th game of the second set but Gauff’s monster serve got her out of trouble as she sealed victory in an hour and 43 minutes.
“We both started off rocky but I think the match was a good quality for the most part,” Gauff said.
“I imagine we were both nervous. This was a long anticipated match up basically since the draw came out.
“The grand slam you have to win seven matches and when you go into the tournament you have to expect to play the best. I’m glad both of us handled the pressure pretty well.”
