Canadian Open: Despite 23 double faults, Gauff survives Collins scare

Coco Gauff came dangerously close to an early exit in her opening match at the WTA 1000 in Montreal. The world No 2 had to battle for nearly three hours to overcome fellow American Danielle Collins, eventually prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2) despite an error-strewn performance — especially on serve.

Gauff and Collins, ranked No 61 in the world, engaged in a tense, topsy-turvy contest marked by wild momentum shifts and erratic shot-making. The first set was a rollercoaster with a total of seven breaks of serve, but Gauff managed to edge it 7-5.

In the second set, Collins recovered from a break down and capitalized on Gauff’s mounting errors to level the match, 6-4. The decider was no less dramatic. Collins served for the match at 6-5 but Gauff, showing grit under pressure, clawed her way out to force a tiebreak — which she dominated 7-2 to seal the win.

The most striking stat of the night: 23 double faults from Gauff — an extraordinarily high number at this level. Collins added 13 of her own, making for a service meltdown on both sides. But in the end, it’s the top seed who moves on.

Gauff will face Veronika Kudermetova in the third round.

Montreal WTA 1000, other second-round results (IGA Stadium, hard, USD 5.152.599, most recent results first):

• Kamilla Rakhimova vs. Elina Svitolina
• Amanda Anisimova vs. Lulu Sun
• Belinda Bencic vs. Eugenie Bouchard
• Emma Raducanu vs. Peyton Stearns
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Eva Lys
• Yuliia Starodubtseva vs. Magdalena Frech
• Antonia Ruzic vs. Karolina Muchova
• Maria Sakkari vs. Jessica Pegula
• Elise Mertens vs. Anna Kalinskaya
• Hanyu Guo vs. Iga Swiatek
• Clara Tauson vs. Lucia Bronzetti
• Catherine McNally vs. Rebecca Sramkova
• Renata Zarazua vs. Jelena Ostapenko
• Madison Keys vs. Laura Siegemund
• Magda Linette vs. Anastasija Sevastova
• Liudmila Samsonova vs. Naomi Osaka
• Maya Joint vs. McCartney Kessler
• Sofia Kenin vs. Victoria Mboko
• Suzan Lamens vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia: tuesday
• Elena Rybakina (9) beat Hailey Baptiste: 6-4, 6-3
• Lin Zhu beat Ekaterina Alexandrova (12): 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Marie Bouzkova beat Diana Shnaider (14): 6-2, 7-6 (5)
• Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beat Ashlyn Krueger (26): 6-4, 6-4
• Veronika Kudermetova beat Olga Danilovic (29): 6-4, 6-2
• Aoi Ito (Q) beat Jasmine Paolini (7): 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5)
• Jaqueline Cristian beat Linda Noskova (20): 6-3, 6-4
• Mirra Andreeva (4) beat Bianca Andreescu (WC): W/O
• Marta Kostyuk (24) beat Marketa Vondrousova: 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Emma Navarro (8) beat Rebecca Marino (WC): 6-1, 6-2
• Dayana Yastremska (30) beat Camila Osorio: 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2
• Daria Kasatkina (15) beat Anna Blinkova: 6-1, 6-4