Gauff races past Frech, first into Australian Open quarter-finals

Coco Gauff cruised past Magdalena Frech in straight sets to begin the order of play in Rod Laver Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Virginie Bouyer / Panoramic

Ricky Dimon

January 21, 2024

Coco Gauff is the first player through to the Australian Open quarter-finals after easing past Magdalena Frech 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday. Gauff tripled Frech’s winner count (21 to seven) while advancing in just one hour and three minutes.

“There’s no better court in Australia and it was an honor to play in front of you,” Gauff said during her on-court interview, with Rod Laver himself in attendance.

Gauff makes up for poor serving with net play

It was never competitive between the reigning US Open champion and the 69th-ranked Pole. Gauff broke serve in the opening game of the match and lost just a single game in the entire first set. Frech held her initial service game in set two, but it was all over for the underdog when she got broken at 1-1.

Gauff dominated even though she did not serve particularly well — she struck only one ace and put a mere 55 percent of her first serves in play. Nonetheless, the world No 4 did not face a single break point

Despite the service woes, Gauff was able to play aggressive tennis against the counter-punching Frech. The 19-year-old, who is playing her last Grand Slam as a teenager, got into net 15 times and won 12 of those points. Frech was a modest two for five at the net.

Clinical Coco ‼️@cocogauff races through the fourth round and into the #AusOpen quarters for the FIRST TIME 👏

She defeats Frech 6-1 6-2. #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/MZkxI1EANf
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2024

Gauff awaits either Marta Kostyuk or Maria Timofeeva in the quarter-finals.

It was still a productive tournament for Frech, who had never been past the third round at a major prior to this fortnight. The 26-year-old had been to a third round only once (Wimbledon in 2022).