American tennis sensation Coco Gauff will face Naomi Osaka in the third round of a second straight Grand Slam event after securing her latest comeback victory.
The 15-year-old American rallied from a set and 3-0 down to beat Romanian Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Next up Gauff will face No. 3 seed and defending champion Osaka, who routed Gauff, 6-3, 6-0 in a highly anticipated third-round showdown under the lights in last year’s U.S. Open.
"I was just trying to stay calm mostly and stay positive,” Gauff said. “I've always believed that I can come back regardless of the score," she reflected on her latest success.
"I think 0-30, 0-3 - I think it was 0-30 - that's when I think I kind of changed everything and decided to be more aggressive. The whole match I knew I needed to be more aggressive. I guess I finally decided to do that even though I wish I decided earlier. That's okay.
"I felt the momentum changing. I knew I had to keep pressing."
Cirstea led 3-0 in the final set, but Gauff rallied to tie it at 3-all. Gauff scored the break at 5-all, and won the match in 2 hours, 6 minutes.
Now she figures to be more composed in her rematch with Osaka, the two-time Grand Slam champion. Osaka had little trouble with Saisai Zheng of China in a 6-2, 6-4 victory.
"I think I'll be less nervous this time," Gauff said. "I think US Open I was nervous. It was my first time on Ashe. We're both familiar with each other's games. She plays really aggressive. This time coming in I'm going to be more aggressive.
"I think in general my mindset has always been nothing to lose really. Even when in juniors, even though I was ranked pretty high in juniors, I was technically supposed to win. Then I still felt like I had nothing to lose.
"I still feel that now. I think my mindset just is I'm going to fight. If I lose, the world is not going to end. I'm going to have another match in maybe a week or so.
"I think it's just less pressure to win. I feel like for me, I'm not trying to win so much but trying to play my best tennis on the court. Winning comes with that if I play good."
Serena Williams, 38, also advanced to the third round via a 6-2, 6-3 win over Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia and could play Osaka or Gauff in the quarterfinals.
"It was a good match for me, she was a really good fighter, she did not just let me win,” Williams said on court.
Williams, one short of Australian Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles, faces China's 27th seed Wang Qiang next in the third round.
Williams is also on track to face her good friend Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round.
Wozniacki is playing in her final event before retirement.
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