Miami Open 2024: Coco Gauff matches Serena Williams’ long-standing feat with latest win

Coco Gauff matched old records in Sunday’s 6-4, 6-0 win over Oceane Dodin at the Miami Open third round.

The World No. 3 defeated her opponent convincingly in straight sets, strikingly racking up 10 consecutive games to beat lucky loser Dodin to set up a clash with No. 23 seed Caroline Garcia after the Frenchwoman’s battling win over former No.1 Naomi Osaka 7-6(4), 7-5.

Gauff, 20, is seeking her first WTA 1000 triumph to continue her impressive ascent in the women’s game that saw the talented star win the 2023 Women’s Open final against Aryna Sabalenka. The sensation’s latest victory over Dodin means she has won 22 of her previous 23 matches on US soil, with the only defeat coming against Maria Sakkari at last week’s Indian Wells semi-finals.

While the US Open champion bids to make the Miami Open quarterfinal for the first time, she can bask in matching one Serena Williams feat in this century.

According to Opta, the 20-year-old is only the second American women’s tennis player to appear in the fourth round of the Miami Open on multiple occasions before their 21st birthday in this century.

The first was Williams, who triumphed at 23 Grand Slams in an illustrious career for the greatest women’s tennis player of her generation. Williams made it to the fourth round in 2001 and 2002, eventually making it to the quarters in the former and claiming her first Miami Open title in the following year.

Furthermore, according to the WTA Tour website, Gauff matched seven American women to make it this far at the Miami Open before turning 21, a feat shared with Mary Joe Fernandez, Kathy Rinaldi, Stephanie Rehe, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

Gauff is bidding to win her second WTA 1000 singles event to add to last year’s historic triumph in Cincinnati, where she became the youngest champion in the tournament’s history.