Beijing, Sep 26 (IANS) Second seed Coco Gauff of the United States opened her title defense at the China Open tennis tournament with a commanding 6-4, 6-0 win over Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova on Friday.

The 21-year-old American, currently ranked world No. 3, pulled away after a tight first set to complete the victory in one hour and 42 minutes in the joint WTA and ATP event being played in the Chinese capital..

“I expected it to be close,” said Gauff. “She’s a great player and has had competitive results with top players in the last few tournaments. I was just a little bit tight at the beginning, but I was able to loosen up and get in a flow.”

In her first match since the US Open, Gauff fought through a drawn-out second game to save four break points before finding her rhythm. She broke Rakhimova for a 4-3 lead and never looked back, sealing the opening set 6-4. The French Open champion then raced through the second set, breaking twice and wrapping up the match without facing serious resistance, reports Xinhua.

Gauff has experienced a season of highs and lows. On clay, she reached consecutive finals at the WTA 1000 events in Madrid and Rome before capturing her second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, where she defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

But her momentum stalled in the summer, suffering a first-round exit at Wimbledon to Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, and later fell to Naomi Osaka in the Round of 16 at the US Open.

“This, for some reason, feels less pressure,” Gauff said of her return to Beijing. “When you play well at a place, you have a lot of confidence. When those tough moments happen, you feel the familiarity of the conditions from the years before.”

Gauff will face Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, who swept past Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-0.

Earlier in the day, fellow American Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, defeated Russia’s Polina Kudermetova 6-4, 6-2 to progress.

In other matches, 25th seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada defeated Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-2, 6-0 in a Round of 64 match, and Marie Bouzkova of Czechia defeated Magda Linette of Poland 7-5, 7-5.

–IANS

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