Gauff crashes out of Western & Southern Open, slump continues

Coco Gauff’s title defence has ended early in Cincinnati, with the world No 2 suffering a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 loss to Yulia Putintseva on Thursday

Coco Gauff – Action Plus / Panoramic

Bren Gray

August 15, 2024

Cincinnati Open •Third round • completed

See draw

Y. PutintsevavsC. Gauff

Kazakh Yulia Putintseva edged out American Coco Gauff, the second seed, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to advance to the last 16 of the Western & Southern Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati on Thursday.

Double faults again hindered Gauff in the opening match of her Cincinnati title defence. She struck nine doubles across the three sets, leading to five breaks of her serve overall.

Gauff has now lost to players ranked lower than her in her past five matches, dating back to Roland-Garros where she fell to Iga Swiatek. Her ranking will drop to No 3 on Monday, with Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka clinching the top two seed spots in New York as a result later this month.

Initially, it seemed as though Gauff would scrap her way out of this match, with the American grabbing a 4-2 lead in the deciding set. However Putintseva – who has now beaten the top two players in the WTA rankings this year – was able to come back strongly, bagging her third top 10 win of the season.

Putintseva, ranked No 33, has now won 10 of her last 11 matches, and will face Spaniard Paula Badosa next.