With Serena showdown possible, Coco Gauff cruises in Auckland debut

Coco Gauff needed just over an hour to dispatch Viktoria Kuzmova, 6-3, 6-1, in her first-round match at the ASB Classic in Auckland on Monday. The 15-year-old suffocated Kuzmova with her consistency and court coverage, winning a whopping 60% of total points.

Gauff will face the winner of the match between Belgium’s Allison Van Uytvanck and Germany’s Laura Siegemund. With a victory, Gauff would enter the quarterfinal round, where she would likely face Serena Williams, barring an upset from one of Camila Giorgi, Christina McHale or Ann Li.

“I felt confident, I feel like I’m moving well," said Gauff. "I had a good offseason, and I think that’s showing in my matches.”

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Some history was made in doubles, featuring Serena and Caroline Wozniacki, who defeated Japan’s Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninomiya, 6-2, 6-4. Wozniacki became the first woman to partner with both Serena and Venus Williams. Nearly 12 years ago Wozniacki and Venus competed at the Premier-level Qatar Total Open in Doha back in 2008.

“It’s amazing to be able to share the court with Serena," said Wozniacki. "Every time I missed, she was like: ‘You did a great job!’ I’m hard on myself so I was like: ‘I need to play with you all the time!’” Wozniacki admitted."

Wozniacki and Serena will face the either the top-seeded team of Caroline Dolehide and Johanna Larsson, or Hayley Carter and Luisa Stefani.