January 17, 2025
For the third year in a row, Coco Gauff has started the season on fire. The No.3 seed 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.
Gauff also won her first eight matches in 2023, taking the Auckland title and going on to the Australian Open fourth round. She went two better in 2024, defending Auckland and then making her first semifinal 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 overall, dating back to her WTA Finals Riyadh triumph at the end of 2024.
Gauff’s 8-0 hat-trick puts her in good company. She is just the fifth player in the Open Era to achieve the feat, following Margaret Court (1969-73), Stefanie Graf (1987-90 and 1994-96), Monica Seles (1991-93) and Serena Williams (2003-05).
The result sets up a fourth-round encounter for the 2023 US Open champion against former Olympic gold medallist 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 semifinals and Gauff turning the tables in the 2023 Washington quarterfinals.
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