Elisabetta Cocciaretto mounted a stunning comeback at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington on Monday, battling past Clara Tauson 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 in a gripping three-hour, 12-minute contest that featured two final-set tie-breaks.
The Italian world No. 60 showed immense resilience after dropping the opening set to the Danish world No. 33. Tauson seized control from the start, breaking in the opening game and relying on her powerful serve to neutralise Cocciaretto's return game. The 21-year-old converted her only break-point opportunity of the set to close it out 6-4.
The second set followed a similar pattern initially, with Tauson breaking early to move 3-1 ahead. But Cocciaretto gradually found her range, pushing the Dane deep behind the baseline and forcing errors. The Italian saved two break points in a critical fifth game before engineering the breakthrough in the sixth, capitalising on a series of double faults from Tauson. The set went to a tie-break, where Cocciaretto trailed 0-2 before rattling off seven unanswered points to level the match.
The deciding set was a wild ride of momentum swings. Cocciaretto broke early to seize control, only to gift the break back in a disastrous eighth game featuring three unforced errors in a row. The pair traded breaks freely in the closing stages. Cocciaretto earned a third break chance in the ninth game and converted it with a precise cross-court winner, then served for the match at 6-5 — only to surrender serve after leading 30-0, the third consecutive break in a remarkable sequence.
That left the match to be decided in a second-set tie-break, and this time Cocciaretto was peerless. The Italian raced through the breaker with clean, aggressive ball-striking, punishing Tauson's wayward groundstrokes to seal one of the grittiest hard-court victories of her career.
"I just tried to stay in every point and fight until the end," Cocciaretto said after the match. "She played incredible tennis, especially in the first set. I knew I had to raise my level and be patient. I'm really happy to have made it through."
Cocciaretto will face either Emma Navarro or Sofia Kenin in the second round.
Sources
- https://www.tennisitaliano.it/wta-washington-una-grande-cocciaretto-vince-in-rimonta-sconfitta-la-tauson-in-tre-set/
