American star Coco Gauff bowed out of the Miami Open in the round of 16 on Monday, as she fell to a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to the unseeded Magda Linette of Poland.
Gauff, the third seed in Miami, was knocked out of Indian Wells at the same stage two weeks ago, losing to Belinda Bencic in that encounter.
Since reaching the quarterfinals of this year’s Australian Open, Gauff has gone 4-4 without getting out of the fourth round of three consecutive WTA 1000 events.
“It wasn’t great today and it hasn’t been for the last two weeks so I’m just trying to figure that out,’’ said Gauff, the former U.S. Open champion.
“Everything, serve, return, forehand, backhand, everything honestly. It’s just one of those days I felt off on everything on the court.”
Committing 12 double faults, Gauff struggled with her serve, and Linette broke the American four times.
Gauff, who turned 21 a few weeks ago, seemed to take control of the second set with a break to draw even at 3-3 and then went up 4-3 on consecutive aces. But Linette ultimately dominated, clinching her first win over a top-three player since 2021.
Since 2009, the 33-year-old Linette is the second-oldest player to claim a first WTA 1000 win over a Top 5 opponent, after Hsieh Su-wei six years ago in Dubai.
Linette is also the third-oldest woman this century to reach the Miami Open quarterfinals for the first time, after Mirjana Lucic (2017) and Hsieh Su-Wei (2019).
“It was really important for me to keep pressing Coco’s serve,’’ said Linette, who avenged a quarterfinal loss to Gauff at a Wuhan Masters last year. “Make sure she feels the pressure.
“I was returning well and was really brave. I was able to back it up with solid service games. She’s really tough when you manage to break because she’s so competitive.”
Linette will face sixth seed Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals after the Italian came from behind to knock out four-time major winner Naomi Osaka 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
A Bad Day For Americans In Miami
Monday was a day to forget for Americans, as defending champion Danielle Collins as well as Amanda Anisimova and Ashlyn Krueger also crashed out.
Collins lost 6-4, 6-4 to top seed Aryna Sabalenka, while Anisimova lost to unseeded Brit Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-3 and Ashlyn Krueger was defeated 6-2, 7-6(3) by China’s Qinwen Zheng.
Fourth seed Jessica Pegula is the only American left in the WTA 1000 tournament following her 6-2, 6-3 victory over Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine. Playing in her fourth consecutive Miami quarterfinal, Pegula will face Raducanu for a place in the semifinals.
Iga Swiatek, the second seed, will face 19-year-old Filipino wildcard Alexandra Eala in the other quarterfinal.
“That’s a bummer there’s not any more of us left, especially being in the U.S.,’’ Pegula said. “I’m happy to carry the flag to the next day, into the next round and hopefully I can represent the best I can for the rest of the tournament.
“It’s nice, but not nice to know you’re the one that’s the last one left in a sense, so hopefully I can use that for motivation with the crowd here.
“Hopefully, that means the crowd will really be behind me every single match and I can use that to my advantage as well.”