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Coco Gauff of the US during a practice session REUTERS/Sandra Sanders
Fourth-seed, Coco Gauff, of the United States and seventh-seed, Mirra Andreeva have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters tennis tournament in Spain.
Gauff beat Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-4, 6-2 in the round of 16 to advance, while Andreeva dispatched Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-1, 6-4 to also progress.
The opening set between Gauff and Bencic went with serve until the fifth game. The 21-year-old Gauff broke Bencic in the sixth game to edge ahead 4-2.
However, Bencic broke back, winning the next two games to level the set 4-ALL. But Gauff upped the ante.
She also won the next two games to go up one set.
The American continued her momentum from the first set in the second.
She broke Bencic in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead.
Gauff sealed a 6-4, 6-2 victory in one hour and 23 minutes when Bencic’s return sailed long on match point.
Meanwhile, Moyuka Uchijima of Japan grabbed her first win over a Top 10 player, upsetting third-seed Jessica Pegula, 6-3, 6-2.
Pegula entered the match with seven wins in eight clay-court matches this season, including a victory at the Charleston Open earlier this month.
But Uchijima took control after converting two of her five break points on the day.
And in the second set, Uchijima jumped to a 4-LOVE lead to cruise to the win.
Uchijima will next play world number 21, Ekaterina Alexandrova.
