Coco Gauff suffers Madrid Open exit
No.6 seed Coco Gauff slumped to a third-round exit at the hands Paula Badosa at the Madrid Open while Mirra Andreeva celebrated her 16th birthday by setting up a meeting with Aryna Sabalenka.
Badosa – the highest-ranked Spanish player in the women's draw – needed just 71 minutes to wrap up a 6-3 6-0 win over last year's Roland Garros runner-up, thrilling a supportive home crowd at Manolo Santana Stadium.
Badosa edged a competitive start on the clay, with each of the first five games featuring break points, before the 25-year-old forced a series of errors from Gauff to take the opener.
The second set was far more straightforward, the error-prone Gauff rounding out the match by losing eight consecutive games to miss out on a spot in the Round of 16.
Gauff was not the only seed to be humbled on Saturday, with Caroline Garcia falling to a 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 loss in her meeting with Egypt's Mayar Sherif.
Sabalenka – the highest-ranked player in action on the day – enjoyed a more productive outing, however.
She saw off a spirited challenge from Colombia's Camila Osorio to clinch a 6-4 7-5 victory, teeing up a last-16 meeting with surprise package Andreeva.
Playing on her 16th birthday, wildcard Andreeva celebrated in style with a 6-3 6-3 win over Poland's Magda Linette, continuing a dream run which has also seen the Russian eliminate Leylah Fernandez and Beatriz Haddad Maia.
