Coco Gauff overcame a stern test from Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko to win her opening match at the Italian Open on Friday night. (More Tennis News)
The number four seed came from a set down to win 3-6 6-2 6-1 in a hard-fought second-round matchup lasting 1 hour and 43 minutes.
Mboko stunned Gauff early, taking the first set with composed defense and capitalizing on a string of errors, including back-to-back double faults at 5-3.
Gauff responded decisively, breaking Mboko in all four of her service games in the second set while drastically cutting down on her unforced errors.
She carried that momentum into the third set, winning six straight games to seal the win and deny Mboko a breakthrough in her first-ever match against a Top 10 opponent.
“Victoria played great tennis,” Gauff said after the win. “She forced me to play like that. So full credit to her.
“I was pretty composed because I felt like I was playing the right way in the first set, just not necessarily connecting on some shots.
“I just felt like if I just started to land more balls in, it would go my way.
Gauff hit 25 winners to Mboko’s 13 and converted nine of 13 break points in a composed finish. She will now face No. 32 seed Magda Linette in the third round.
Meanwhile, defending champion Alexander Zverev made a dominant start to his Rome title defence on Friday, cruising past Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-2 6-1 in just over an hour.
“I think in general it was a pretty good match,” Zverev said
“He’s obviously not a guy who has the biggest game, but all in all I did my things well and I’m happy about that.”
The German broke six of ten break points in what was a largely comfortable win. He will now face Lithuanian qualifier Vilius Gaubas in the third round.
Elsewhere, Jack Draper silenced the home crowd with a commanding 6-1 6-4 victory over Italian Luciano Darderi to kickstart his campaign.
The fifth seed will next take on Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva, where he will be aiming to clinch his 100th tour-level win.
Daniil Medvedev also progressed comfortably, dispatching Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-2. He will meet Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, the 24th seed, in the third round.
