Coco Gauff beat Lucia Bronzetti in straight sets to advance to the quarters of the Cincinnati Open. -AP
Coco Gauff is tracking nicely ahead of another crack at the US Open, the No.2 seed securing her place in the quarter-finals in Cincinnati with a 6-2 6-4 win over Lucia Bronzetti.
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The American, who was awarded a walkover by Dayana Yastremska in the previous round, took an hour and 19 minutes to beat the Italian and reach the last eight of a tournament for the first time since claiming her second grand slam at the French Open.
"For the most part I played aggressive. Maybe got a bit passive in some of those games. But it's tough. The balls are super light and they fly," the 2023 US Open winner said.
"She wasn't giving me much pace. I was trying to play with control but also aggressive. I think I did well. I missed a couple balls. But I learned from it and was able to close it out."
Gauff will next face another Italian in seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, who swept past Barbora Krejcikova 6-1 6-2 in a rematch of the 2024 Wimbledon final.
It was the pair's first meeting since the 2024 Wimbledon final and Krejcikova needed medical treatment on her left foot when trailing 3-0 in the second set. The Czech's movement was visibly hampered.
"I think she wasn't at 100 per cent, but she's an unbelievable player," Paolini said afterwards. "She can put the ball wherever she wants every time, I don't know how she does this. But I'm happy that I tried to stay there mentally until the last point."
French qualifier Varvara Gracheva also went through, beating German Ella Seidel 2-6 6-1 6-1 to reach her first WTA 1000 quarter-final.Â
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