Coco Gauff beats Yulia Putintseva with ease at Italian Open in Rome, Jessica Pegula stunned by Taylor Townsend
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Updated 11/05/2023 at 17:33 GMT
Coco Gauff put on a show as she breezed past Yulia Putintseva at the Italian Open in Rome. The young American only conceded one game in a 6-0 6-1 win as she eased her way into the round of 32 in under an hour. Elsewhere, third seed Jessica Pegula was stunned by 168th-ranked Taylor Townsend and exited the tournament in her opener. Caroline Garcia is also in action on Thursday.
Bublik destroys his racquet in Rome opener against Martinez
Coco Gauff made little error as she swept past Yulia Putintseva 6-0 6-1 at the Italian Open in Rome.
The sixth seed won seven straight games as she claimed the first set in style and took the front foot in the second, before Putintseva clawed a game back to the appreciation of the Rome crowd.
But it would only go down as a consolation, as Gauff thundered through the next five games to put a marker down in her Rome opener.
The American was relentless from start to finish and wrapped up a glowing performance to move into the round of 32 in under an hour.
She fired 29 winners in the 59-minute contest and held Putintseva to just one, and broke the Kazakhstani five times without reply.
"It was a tough loss for me," Gauff said on her third-round Madrid Open loss to Paula Badosa. "I think you could see that it just wasn't my day, my game, not how I like to appear on court. I've been working really hard since then. I'm feeling good. I'm practising a lot better.
"With the coaching change, it's tough. I think I was dealing with making that adjustment. Especially during this part of the season, which is important to me, I felt a little bit of pressure.
"Now I feel like having that match, I feel like I'm just ready to build myself back up into what I know I can be."
She will face 27th seed Marie Bouzkova for a spot in the round of 16, after she beat Caty McNally in straight sets from 4-0 down.
One player who did not enjoy her opening match was third seed Jessica Pegula, who was eliminated after a shock defeat to compatriot Taylor Townsend.
The 168th-ranked singles player beat Pegula 6-2 3-6 6-3 on the Grandstand court to claim the biggest win of her career by ranking, closely followed by her 2019 US Open triumph over Simona Halep.
Her second career win against a top-ten opponent earned her a third-round tie against Wang Xiyu, who beat Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets.
Earlier in the day, Victoria Azarenka won her opening match 6-4 6-3 to move past Sloane Stephens.
The two former world No. 1s kicked off the action on Thursday and despite the straight-set scoreline posted by the Belarusian, she was made to work for her one-hour, 42-minute triumph.
Stephens looked in good shape to continue her six-game winning run when she led Azarenka by a break twice in the first set, and once more in the second.
But as the pair began to adjust to each other's shifting tactics, it was Azarenka who proved too aggressive for Stephens.
The 33-year-old utilised her strong backhand game to open up the court which proved crucial as she navigated her way through the match.
She came through five deuces to break for 4-2 in the second set but dropped serve as Stephens threatened to draw the match level, but Azarenka redoubled her efforts to win the final two games of the match.
Fifth seed Caroline Garcia plays Ana Bogdan later in the day.
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