Gauff loses to Wang Xinyu in first match after French Open win
Coco Gauff's first match at a two-time Grand Slam champion didn't go quite as planned.
The World No. 2 was upset in the second round of the Berlin Tennis Open on Thursday by China's Wang Xinyu, 6-3, 6-3 in her first match since winning the French Open on June 7.
Berlin: Draws | Scores | Order of play
Wang, ranked World No. 49, picked up her third career Top 10 win in 1 hour and 15 minutes. She beat Jessica Pegula twice in 2024, including at Wimbledon on her way to the fourth round. Wang's grass-court prowess has continued in German. In addition to beating Gauff, she has also picked up scalps against Daria Kasatkina and 2022 Berlin champion Ons Jabeur in four wins so far, having come through qualifying at the WTA 500 event.
The 23-year-old won four straight games to win the first set, and five in a row from 3-1 down in the second. While Wang played a tidy match -- hitting 16 winners to 12 unforced errors in all -- she was happy to take some donations from Gauff. The American hit 25 unforced errors, including seven double faults, to only eight winners.
"After I won the first set, I told myself, 'OK, let's take a minute and enjoy this. I'm playing the French Open champion and I won the first set,'" Wang said afterwards. "No matter how the second and third go, I was like, 'Let's enjoy it for once second. I'm really happy with how I played today. I was serving good, and putting a lot of pressure on return, especially second serve return.
"It was a tough match, but I'm happy I hung in there on the tough moments."
Wang lost her only previous match against Badosa: a 6-3, 7-6(3) loss in the first round of the Australian Open in January, where Badosa went on to reach the semifinals.
"I remember at the Australian Open; that was a really tough match," Wang said. "She's playing great tennis now, and I'm just really happy to get a chance to play another match here."
Despite Gauff's loss, there were better fortunes for another American before Thursday in Berlin ended. Recent Queen's finalist Amanda Anisimova came from 3-0 down in the final set to beat Magdalena Frech 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
