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Home Tennis Australian Open: Gauff survives Baptiste scare…
Australian Open: Gauff survives Baptiste scare
Tennis Jan 23, 2026 3 min read

Australian Open: Gauff survives Baptiste scare

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Third seed Coco Gauff battled back from a set down to beat compatriot Hailey Baptiste and book her place in round four.

 

The 21-year-old lost the opening set 6-3, but adjustments to her serve laid the foundations for the comeback.

 

The American stormed through the second set 6-0 before closing out victory 6-3 in the third to set up a last‑16 tie against 19th seed Karolina Muchova.

 

Coco Gauff, left, is congratulated by American compatriot Hailey Baptiste 

 

"Hailey played so well in the first set; maybe it could have been a different outcome had a few points gone my way," Gauff said.

 

"I didn't change too much. I tried to get more first serves in. I tried to be aggressive with my serve placement and not be too passive.

 

"There were moments where I was a bit too passive, so honestly, I'm out there trying to figure out the balance along with everybody else.

 

"I wasn't too upset, and I was able to raise my level. I'm happy with how I mentally stayed calm."

 

'A lot of disrespectful moments' - Putintseva hits out at crowd

 

Yulia Putintseva hit out at "disrespectful" Australian Open fans after her third-round victory over Zeynep Sonmez.

 

Sonmez has become a crowd favourite after helping a fainting ball girl during her first-round victory, while Melbourne has a large Turkish community who turned out in force.

 

But it was not enough to carry her to victory against Kazakhstan's Putintseva, who claimed a 6-3 6-7 (3) 6-3 win to reach the fourth round in Melbourne for the first time.

 

Yulia Putintseva cups her ear to the partisan Melbourne crowd

 

Putintseva taunted the crowd at the end and danced in celebration, with fans responding by booing throughout her on-court interview.

 

"There is always someone in favour and someone to cheer for, that's what's great about the sport," said Putintseva.

 

"But today I think was really a lot of disrespectful moments when they were screaming between my first and second serve. Like really loud, just to make me (make a) mistake.

 

"I think it was 4-3, was a big point, and I opened the court very good. I take my forehand, the guy just started coughing just for my shot. I was like, 'OK, now I'm not going to lose'.

 

"I was ready to take it all but I was ready to fight until I die there. What can I do? It's just some people have education of tennis and, unfortunately, some of them not.

 

"I'm very happy that I kept my calm, because Yulia last year would probably throw something at them at some moment."

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