Coco Gauff overcomes Jessica Pegula with a dominant third-set display to open her WTA Finals campaign with victory as Linda Noskova beats Marta Kostyuk; you can watch the WTA Finals from Indian Wells this week on Sky Sports Tennis
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Coco Gauff shredded her shoes but stayed one step ahead of Jessica Pegula to defeat her compatriot 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 on the opening day of the WTA Finals at Indian Wells, while Czech Linda Noskova got the better of Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-4.
Gauff had beaten Pegula three months ago in Cincinnati and had the right formula once again, as the 2024 winner showed superb versatility in a round-robin clash between the top two Americans in the season-ending championship.
World No 4 Gauff took the opener and recovered from 5-1 down in the second to come within a point of winning in straight sets.
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But it was Pegula's turn to dig in from 5-6, saving a match point and then playing a terrific tie-break to extend the contest at Indian Wells.
Gauff took charge of the match in the third set, breaking to lead 3-0 before earning her sixth win against Pegula after two hours and 39 minutes.
Pegula would probably have been grateful to get the tennis under way after her viral and awkward 'hot mic' moment when disparaging comments she made about fellow player Mirra Andreeva to her coach during a training session were picked up on a livestream.
That prompted a grovelling apology from the WTA , which admitted it had not told players the microphones were on, and damage control behind the scenes from Pegula.
The world No 5 had compared Andreeva's mentality unfavourably with Gauff's in her indiscreet comments, and the two-time Grand Slam champion set about showing her competitive grit, clawing her way back with five games in a row, including saving three set points.
Sometime doubles partners Gauff and Pegula had shared their 10 previous meetings, while this was the fourth year in a row they were meeting at the WTA Finals.
"Honestly, I was having a lot of fun today. I took a little break, it was my first match in a month," said Gauff, who was last in action at the China Open in early October.
"To play a tournament like this with no preparation is something I've never done in my career. I'm just really happy to get through today. It was a tough match."
The 22-year-old said she had to be aggressive to deal with Pegula's game.
"I also had to run a lot," she added. "My shoes are pretty torn up now. Some of my shoes are like somewhere on the court there, so I'm going to have to change shoes tomorrow."
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Earlier, Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova marked her debut by beating alternate Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-4 in her opening round-robin game.
Kostyuk is standing in for No 1 seed Elena Rybakina after the Kazakh withdrew a day before the tournament citing a medical issue , and got off to an understandably slow start, as Noskova broke her serve at the second time of asking before winning four of the next five games in a dominant first-set performance.
Kostyuk made a stronger start in the second set, wining her first two games on serve, but a Noskova break put the No 8 seed ahead 4-2, and her Ukranian opponent's missed opportunity to break back at 4-3 down proved costly, with the Czech winning her next two service games and securing the straight-sets victory.
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"My main focus was myself," Noskova told Sky Sports . "Marta is a very difficult opponent, because she never gives up, but I felt like I had the match under control the whole time.
"I've played against Marta a few times now, so I know that I have to be as aggressive as possible against Marta. She is very fast, plays a lot of great volleys and tricky points. Against her, it's very tough to get that last point over the net."
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Source: Sports
