Coco Gauff won her eighth successive match of 2025 and made it 16 sets out of 16, scoring her second victory of the year against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez to move into the fourth round at Australian Open 2025 on Friday.

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During their United Cup meeting in Perth, Gauff dropped just five games against the left-hander, and this time just one more as she completed a 6-4 6-2 success under the Margaret Court Arena lights.  

The scoreline suggests it was plain sailing for the 20-year-old former US Open champion, but early on her play was a touch inconsistent and improvements will need to be made if she is to land another Grand Slam title next week.

Gauff’s next test on Sunday will come against Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, who went through after Naomi Osaka retired with an abdominal injury a set into their third-round match earlier in the day.

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Afterwards, Gauff was asked whether it’s easier or harder to come back to play an opponent twice in such a short space of time.

“I think harder because she knows what to expect,” the third seed explained. “I definitely think she played a little bit different today than she did at United Cup.

“Definitely harder, because you’re kind of trying to change up what you did last time because she’s kind of expecting it.

“I knew today was going to be a tough match regardless of the result a couple of weeks ago.”