Did Gauff and Pegula Begin Their Cincinnati Campaigns with Wins?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Coco Gauff continues her strong performance in WTA tournaments.
- Jessica Pegula matches her former doubles partner's success.
- American players dominate the Cincinnati Masters.
- Gauff's next challenge comes against Dayana Yastremska.
- Several top seeds advanced with ease.
Cincinnati, Aug 11 (NationPress) No. 2-seeded Coco Gauff showcased her skills against opponent Wang Xinyu, securing a 6-3, 6-2 win in just 70 minutes, advancing to the third round at the Cincinnati Masters.
This marks Gauff's sixth opening match victory in eight WTA 1000 events this year.
Next up for Gauff is No. 32 Dayana Yastremska, who triumphed over Viktoriya Tomova with a score of 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 on Tuesday. Gauff has a favorable record against Yastremska, having won three of their four encounters.
Among the top 50 in the WTA Rankings, Gauff is one of eight American players and the fifth to progress to the third round. No. 5 Amanda Anisimova, No. 6 Madison Keys, and wild card Taylor Townsend also secured victories on Saturday. On Sunday, Gauff was joined by 21-year-old Ashlyn Krueger, who won against Anastasija Sevastova with a score of 6-4, 0-6, 6-3, according to WTA reports.
Later, No. 4 Jessica Pegula matched her former doubles partner with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Kimberly Birrell. Pegula's next opponent is No. 31 Magda Linette, who defeated Rebecca Sramkova 7-6 (4), 6-0.
Only Aryna Sabalenka (47) and Iga Swiatek (44) have recorded more wins this year at the WTA level than Pegula's impressive total of 37.
No. 8 seed Emma Navarro was eliminated by qualifier Ella Seidel in a close match, finishing with a score of 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Seidel, a 20-year-old German ranked No. 124, will face the winner of the match between Americans Caty McNally and McCartney Kessler.
Earlier, No. 7 Jasmine Paolini advanced in two tense tiebreak sets, winning 7-6(2), 7-6(5) against Maria Sakkari. However, No. 17 Belinda Bencic succumbed to Veronika Kudermetova with a score of 6-4, 7-6(0), marking their 11th meeting.
In other news, No. 3 Iga Swiatek and No. 23 Jelena Ostapenko both advanced due to walkovers. Swiatek was supposed to compete against No. 25 Marta Kostyuk, who withdrew with a right wrist injury.
Ostapenko was set to face Camila Osorio, but an abdominal injury prevented the Colombian from competing.
Ostapenko will take on Lucia Bronzetti in the third round, while Swiatek is scheduled to play either Sorana Cirstea or lucky loser Yuan Yue in the fourth round.