Gauff bests Fernandez in Melbourne and seals historic 8-0 start to season

For the third year in a row, Coco Gauff has started the season on fire. Seed no. 3 improved to a perfect 8-0 in 2025 with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Leylah Fernandez in the Australian Open third round, advancing to the second week of a major for the 14th time.

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Gauff also won his first eight matches of 2023, taking the Auckland title and advancing to the fourth round of the Australian Open. She went two better in 2024, defending Auckland and then making her first semi-final in Melbourne. She began 2025 by going undefeated at the United Cup – starting with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Fernandez – to help Team USA lift the trophy. Gauf is currently on a 10-match winning streak dating back to her WTA Finals Riyadh triumph in late 2024.

Gauff’s 8-0 hat trick puts her in good company. She is just the fifth player in the Open Era to accomplish the feat, following Margaret Court, Stefanie Graf, Monica Seles and Serena Williams.

The result sets up a fourth-round meeting for the 2023 US Open champion against former Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic, who advanced via retirement over Naomi Osaka. Gauff and Bencic have split two previous meetings, with Bencic winning in three sets in the 2021 Adelaide semi-finals and Gauff turning the tables in the 2023 Washington quarter-finals.

This is how the match was won: Gauff’s two defeats of Fernandez this season were the pair’s first meetings since their junior days and she is yet to drop a set to the Canadian at any level.

There were moments of vulnerability on Friday. The Gauff forehand was a weakness early on, contributing 13 of her 17 unforced errors in the first set. Apparently cruising in the second up a double break, she coughed up consecutive double faults to lose one of the breaks and two more in her next service game.

Gauff was quick to pull off those blips and Fernandez was slow to capitalize. Although the 2021 US Open finalist was occasionally able to outmaneuver Gauff with sharp angles, she was unable to resolve her tendency to overpress, especially in longer exchanges.

Although the pair won equal points in four shots or fewer – 26 apiece – Gauff won 17 of the points that lasted five to eight shots, compared to Fernandez’s 10. The American was even more dominant when events extended to nine shots or more and took 18 of those points compared to Fernandez’s six.

By the end of the match, Gauff was in full flow again, reeling off a series of sweet backhand winners to serve out the match with minimal trouble.

More to come…