Gauff reaches China Open third round after beating Rakhimova

Coco Gauff advanced to the third round of the China Open on Friday, beating Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 6-0 at the National Tennis Center in Beijing to begin her title defense. The 21-year-old American, the tournament champion in 2024, wrapped up the victory in straight sets and will next face Leylah Fernandez in a rematch of their Australian Open meeting earlier this year.

Gauff’s win was steady rather than spectacular. She survived a tense early exchange in which she saved multiple break points, then seized control with a timely break and closed the match with a dominant second set. The bagel set extended her winning streak in Beijing to seven matches and moved her into the last 32 of the WTA 1000 event on hard courts.

The match came after a candid pre-tournament comment from Gauff in which she described the China Open as feeling like a practice tournament, saying her French Open triumph earlier this season had eased some of the pressure on the rest of her year. The remark drew both surprise and praise. Rick Macci, the veteran coach who has worked with Serena and Venus Williams, posted on X that he admired Gauff’s mindset and called her willingness to experiment in competition a...