Cori Gauff’s 15-year-old course at the Australian Open ended Sunday at the Melbourne Arena. The protege of the Mouratoglou Academy lost in the round of 16 (6-7 [5], 6-3, 6-0) against another American, Sofia Kenin, who thus joins the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her young career (she is 21 years old).
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48 direct faults for Gauff
Two days after beating defending champion and world No. 4 Naomi Osaka (6-3, 6-4), Gauff fell again in the round of 16, like at Wimbledon last July. Much less efficient in service than against the Japanese (only 56% of first balls, 7 aces but also 7 double faults and 65% of points won behind her first), the player coached by Jean-Christophe Faurel was dominated in most rallies (only 38% of points earned in exchanges of five or more strikes). She tried to shorten the exchanges but committed numerous faults (48 in total for 39 winning strokes, against 28 winning strokes and 22 direct faults with Kenin).
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After a first round torn from the tie-break despite a break late in the middle of the set (4-2), Gauff gradually folded against the 15th world, which had already cut the head of Serena Williams at Roland Garros the year past. The two players ended the game in tears. Tears of joy for Kenin, qualified for the first quarter-final of his career in Major, sadness for Gauff, inconsolable as in each of his defeats.
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