![]() “We both started off rocky,” said Gauff in her on-court interview, “but I think the match was good quality for the most part. ![]() In a nervy finish, Gauff brought Raducanu forward with a drop shot, and then outwitted her with a crafty lob-volley, before erupting in a leaping celebration that revealed how much she wanted this win. You had to feel for Raducanu, who kept firing the ball into the corners with her scudding groundstrokes, only for Gauff to stretch out a long arm and chip it back into play. ![]() ![]() In the end, it was Gauff’s retrieving skills that made the difference, as she defended like Djokovic throughout the second-set tie-break. Another leading commentator, Channel Nine’s Rennae Stubbs, wrote that “I hope we see those two play each other for another decade at least!” This first meeting between 20-year-old Emma Raducanu and 18-year-old Coco Gauff on Rod Laver Arena was the sort of captivating occasion that could boost the WTA Tour out of its current slump. Emma Raducanu’s Australian Open campaign has come to an end, but not before a match which had the former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker saluting “the future of women’s tennis”.
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