Coco Gauff suffered a disappointing third-round exit at the Madrid Open, losing in straight sets to a dominant Paula Badosa. The sixth seed struggled to find her rhythm against the Spanish home favorite, who won 6-3 6-0 to secure a place in the next round.
The defeat continued Gauff’s shaky start to the clay-court season following a second-round exit in Stuttgart last week. Despite her recent struggles, the 19-year-old American will be hoping to bounce back and find her form ahead of the French Open, where she reached the final last year.
Badosa, who is on the comeback trail after a difficult season that saw her slump from number two in the world to her current ranking of 42, will be pleased with her performance against Gauff.
The 25-year-old, who is yet to win a title on the WTA Tour, improved her career head-to-head record against Gauff to 3-1. Badosa will now face the winner of the late-night match between Maria Sakkari and wildcard Rebeka Masarova in the next round and will be hoping to continue her impressive form and secure a place in the latter stages of the tournament.
