(Tennis news) It was a battle between two of the brightest prospects in women’s tennis as 18 year old Coco Gauff took on 20 year old Emma Raducanu in the Australian Open. Raducanu, who is currently ranked 77th in the world showed the lack of match practice as she succumbed to a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) defeat in the second round. It was clear that Raducanu wasn’t 100% fit as she battled an ankle injury sustained at the Auckland International.

The 20 year old considers it a “great achievement” to even compete in the Australian Open after facing a race against time to recover in time from an ankle injury. She was forced to retire against Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova in Auckland and left the court in tears. Raducanu managed to win her opening match against Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch but it was clear that Gauff will test her mobility and endurance much more.

Both managed to go toe-to-toe with intense baseline rallies and Raducanu grew in confidence and played some aggressive and accurate groundstrokes, pinning Gauff back. However, her lack of game time showed as Raducanu began to make unforced errors and allowed Gauff to get back into the game. The defeat could potentially be the start of a long rivalry between the two which can go on for decades to come. As things stand, Gauff is the younger player but with greater experience while Raducau is two years older but has won a Grand Slam. Gauff will now face fellow American Bernarda Pera in the third round on Friday.

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