Gauff battles into Lexington quarterfinals

It took nearly three hours for a determined Coco Gauff to earn the latest high-profile victory of her professional career.

The 16-year-old American overcame 10 double faults in a marathon three-setter to beat world No. 11 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the second round of the Top Seed Open presented by Bluegrass Orthopaedics, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4. 

The victory over the current world No. 11, and reigning US Open doubles champion, is Gauff's third career win over a player ranked inside the Top 20 in just her eighth WTA main-draw appearance.

"It was a long match and she played really well. I knew that coming in, that it was going to be a good match and good tennis, and I'm glad that I was able to pull through today," Gauff said after the match.

"[The key was] to stay calm and composed, and making her play balls. In the second set, I started double faulting more and making more errors, so [in the third set] my goal was to just make her make as many balls as possible.

"Everything was an 'A' except for my serving. I definitely served better in my first match than today, but you're going to have good and bad days, and I like to go for my serves, so that's the give and take."

The opening set was nip and tuck from the start, as the American teenager was the first to break and eventually built a 5-2 lead. Undaunted, the big-hitting Belarusian started to find her range off the ground and on serve to pocket the next four games and earn her own opportunity to serve for the set. From there, however, Gauff dug in her her heels and broke to 30, before opening up a commanding 5-0 lead in the tiebreak en route to taking the set. 

Sabalenka's scintillating groundstrokes soon found their range in the second set, and she built a 5-2 lead almost quickly as she had trailed by the margin in the opener. Though she failed to serve out the set in the ninth game, the former Top 10 playe broke to love to send the match to a decider. 

After a tight start to the final set in which the players traded breaks twice, it was ultimately Gauff who forged ahead to finish with a flourish by winning three straight games to end the match, and 12 of the final 14 points.

"I think my mentality pushed me to win," Gauff later told reporters in a virtual press conference. "We're both playing good tennis, and had our ups and downs in the match. At the end of the day, it came down to a couple close points.

"It's pretty much impossible to play your best tennis for all three hours of a match. Keeping the level high throughout was pretty tough, but that's just tennis, playing in different conditions, and just starting back on tour. I'm not too upset with how I played; I'm most proud of how I handled myself, staying composed on the pressure points."

Also advancing to the quarterfinals with a victory on Wednesday was Jennifer Brady, who beat No. 6 seed Magda Linette of Poland with ease, 6-2, 6.3