Sports News | Top-seeded Coco Gauff Beats Yafan Wang 6-4, 6-2 in Toronto in Her First Hard-court Match Since April

Toronto, Aug 9 (AP) Top-seeded Coco Gauff routed Yafan Wang 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday in the second round of the National Bank Open.

Preparing for her U.S. Open title defense, Gauff played her first hard-court match since the Miami Open in April.

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“It's not easy transitioning from all these different surfaces in such a short amount of time,” said the 20-year-old American, coming off a third-round loss on clay in the Paris Olympics. “Happy to get pushed through.”

In the night session, second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open winner, beat Yue Yuan 6-2, 6-2.

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“I wouldn't say that I played my best tennis,” Sabalenka said. “Really happy that I was able to stay focused no matter what.”

Elise Mertens edged Naomi Osaka 6-3, 6-4 in a late match. Osaka, a former No. 1 player with four Grand Slam titles, is returning to form following maternity leave.

Earlier, fourth-seeded Jelena Ostapenko outlasted Paula Badosa 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2. Badosa won the Washington title Sunday in her comeback from a back injury.

No. 5 Daria Kasatkina, No. 6 Liudmila Samsonova, No. 8 Emma Navarro and No. 10 Anna Kalinskaya advanced. No. 7 Madison Keys retired from her match against Peyton Stearns because of a thigh injury while down 3-0 in the third set.

Kasatkina beat Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-3; Samsonova topped Moyuka Uchijima 6-4, 6-2; Navarro beat Magda Linette 6-2, 6-4; and Kalinskaya edged Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-2.

Canadian Leylah Fernandez, seeded 15th, dropped out with a 6-4, 6-2 loss to qualifier Ashlyn Krueger. Marina Stakusic, a 19-year-old wild card from nearby Mississauga, was thumped 6-0, 6-2 by Taylor Townsend. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)