For the third straight night, fans were treated at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montreal.
After Bianca Andreescu’s dramatic straight-set win over Barbora Krejcikova and Eugenie Bouchard’s three-set victory over Emiliana Arango that pushed back her retirement, top seed Coco Gauff overcame a flood of double faults to beat Olympic teammate Danielle Collins 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2) in just under three hours.
It was the first meeting between the pair – somewhat surprising given how long they’ve been established at the top level – and it won’t be forgotten.
Gauff’s 23 double faults – which eclipsed the 21 she authored against Aryna Sabalenka late last season in Wuhan – and a combined tally of 154 unforced errors told much, but not all, of the tale.
Gauff sent serves into the bottom of the net and almost inadvertently hit Collins with one of her serves, while the latter dropped her racquet a handful of times when she missed what appeared to be tap-ins close to the net.
However, keep in mind that Collins’ potent returns might have prompted at least a few of the double faults and Gauff’s incredible court coverage likely led to some of those Collins misses.
They produced a combined 59 winners and did so every way possible.
The opening two games truly did set the tone. There were two breaks to start, but those games were punctuated with highlight-reel winners. Collins broke courtesy of a lob, with Gauff breaking right back with a deft forehand drop shot.
And so the fun began.
Gauff actually led by a set and 3-1, before the former Australian Open finalist rallied to force a decider. In the final set, Gauff couldn’t hold on to 2-0, then 4-2 advantages.
At 5-5, Gauff delivered back-to-back double faults to pave the way for what felt like the decisive break. The 31-year-old was thus on the cusp of earning a 17th Top 10 win.
However, it wasn’t that simple. Gauff responded for 6-6, showing her wheels by producing a backhand winner off an instinctive Collins volley that was on the way to landing on Collins’ side after it bounced.
Somewhat ironically in the tiebreaker, a Collins double fault for 2-4 – she hit 13 double faults herself – swung things in Gauff’s favor.
Gauff avoided a three-match losing streak (in the two losses, she hit a combined 16 double faults), which would have been her second one of 2025.
Once again, Gauff picked up the ‘W’ without having her best stuff. She did it on the way to both of her Grand Slam titles, too, in New York and Paris.
Of course, she’ll hope to pick up her game in the third round against Veronika Kudermetova during Thursday’s day session.
Photo: Pascal Ratthé
Explore more
