Coco Gauff Sets Unwanted Personal Record but Somehow Still wins in Montreal

Despite her deserved and earned status as one of the best players in the world, Gauff has repeatedly had an issue with hitting double faults throughout her career. Against Collins, she spread that problem quite equally across the three sets. In the opener, the French Open champion struck seven of them but still managed to take the set 7-5.

Despite Gauff leading midway through the second set, Collins hit back to level the match by taking it 6-4. The 21-year-old helped her opponent back into the encounter by delivering seven more double-faults. Unfortunately for Gauff, the double-fault count was even higher in the third. The 2023 US Open winner’s eighth of the set and 22nd in total eclipsed her previous highest total set against Aryna Sabalenka in the 2024 Wuhan Open semifinal.

Battling such constant issues on serve would have worn down most players and led to a total collapse. However, Gauff is arguably the most resilient player in the women’s game, which provided some hope. She produced some of her best tennis on important points, including holding serve twice at the start of the third set after being a break point down in both games. Collins also had trouble on serve, leaking 13 double faults, adding an additional layer of unpredictability and drama to the night session battle in Montreal.

Gauff looked doomed after losing serve at 5-5, but took her fourth break point chance in the next game to force a deciding set tiebreak. The two-time Grand Slam champion’s better mentality under pressure proved the difference. She finally won 7-5 4-6 7-6(7-2) after a match filled with momentum shifts. Triumphing through repeated adversity is a testament to Gauff’s character.