Beijing, Sept. 26 -- Second seed Coco Gauff of the United States opened her title defense at the China Open with a commanding 6-4, 6-0 win over Russia's Kamilla Rakhimova today.
The 21-year-old American, currently ranked world No. 3, pulled away after a tight first set to complete the victory in one hour and 42 minutes.
"I expected it to be close," said Gauff. "She's a great player and has had competitive results with top players in the last few tournaments. I was just a little bit tight at the beginning, but I was able to loosen up and get in a flow."In her first match since the US Open, Gauff fought through a drawn-out second game to save four break points before finding her rhythm. She broke Rakhimova for a 4-3 lead and never looked ba...