The American Coco Gauff, world No.3, was jostled by the Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, before reaching the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome on Saturday.
Gauff, 20, won 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 against the 68th in the world who made her doubt until the end in the 3rd set. “I made a lot of mistakes from the 2nd set onwards, while my opponent raised his level of play,” explained the American who had not progressed beyond the round of 16 in Madrid.
In the next round, Gauff will face Spaniard Paula Badosa, former world No.2 now 126th in the WTA rankings, who recently revealed she had to have cortisone injections to be able to cope with back pain and continue her career.
