Coco Gauff Stages Comeback to Win at Mutua Madrid Open

MADRID — No. 4 seed Coco Gauff recovered from a dismal first set to defeat Dayana Yastremska 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 in their second-round match on Thursday night at the Mutua Madrid Open.

This victory marks just the second time in her career that Gauff won a match after losing the first set 6-0 in WTA events. Her only other instance was against Elise Mertens in Eastbourne four years ago.

Despite the rough start, Gauff showed resilience in the following sets. She broke Yastremska twice to establish a 3-0 lead in the final set, but the momentum shifted as Yastremska responded with two breaks of her own to level the score at 3-3.

Gauff reclaimed the initiative, breaking Yastremska again to lead 5-3, but faced a stiff challenge as Yastremska saved three match points. Ultimately, Gauff secured the win after breaking Yastremska once more to conclude the match.

In total, both players were broken in seven of 14 service games. This loss leaves Yastremska’s record at 4-19 against Top 10 players in her career.

The match took place at Manolo Santana Stadium and echoed an earlier contest in which No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek also staged a comeback against 19-year-old Alexandra Eala.

Gauff now needs two more victories to advance to the quarterfinals, aiming to surpass her best performance in five previous Madrid Open appearances. At just 21 years old, Gauff is the youngest player to win eight consecutive opening matches in WTA 1000 clay events since the format’s introduction in 2009.

Her next challenge will be fellow American Ann Li, who defeated No. 25 seed Leylah Fernandez with scores of 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in a closely contested match.