Coco Gauff runs past Sonay Kartal into fourth round at Wimbledon
By Lee Vowell
Sonay Kartal can strike the ball with force. Her serve is crisp and her forehand is a weapon. She certainly does not look like a player ranked 298 on the WTA tour. She even gave second-seeded Coco Gauff a tough first set in the third round at Wimbledon.
The problem for Kartal is that the American moves around the court so well and once she gets to a ball she can return with pace and placement and the Brit had no answer for that. Kartal is just 22 years old (what seems strange is that Gauff is still two years her junior) and likely has her best tennis ahead of her, but unless she fixes some serious issues, she'll never be a match for Guaff.
Kartal's problems were exposed in the second set of the third-round match. The Brit tends to overhit and is extremely inconsistent in her form. While at times she struck the ball so well that she could even overpower her better opponent, she could not do so repeatable.
Coco Gauff far too much for Sonay Kartal in third round at Wimbledon
Meanwhile, Gauff simply played her game and did not beat herself. The American struggles with her serve at times and can get herself into trouble with double faults. She avoided that for the most part on Friday and simply allowed Kartal to cause herself issues. Kartal would hit the ball into a corner and Gauff would dig it out and hit a cross-court winner. The Brit cannot move like Gauff can.
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The second set was brutal for Kartal. After battling to only drop the first set 4-6, she might have run out of proverbial steam. She stopped hitting with as much authority and had far too many unforced errors. She hopefully will learn that a bit of touch can work as well as power. She is not there yet.
Gauff's form in the second set was that of a potential Wimbledon champion, however. Top-seed Iga Swiatek is not the challenge on grass courts that she is on clay. Aryna Sabalenka was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon before the event started. The field might be wide open, only that Gauff looks unbeatable currently. She defeated Kartal 6-4 6-0.
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