British quantity seven Jodie Burrage gave a great account of herself towards Coco Gauff however was unable to trigger a seismic shock as she exited the Australian Open within the second spherical.
Burrage, 25, misplaced 6-3 7-5 to the American third seed in Wednesday’s evening session on Rod Laver Area.
Burrage, ranked 173rd on the planet, had the possibility to take the match right into a decider when she served for the second set at 5-3.
However a poor service recreation, which ended with a double fault on the primary of two break factors, allowed Gauff to reassert her authority.
Whereas not taking her alternative to win a minimum of a set towards one of many world’s finest will sting, Burrage can mirror proudly on how she has revived her profession.
Burrage has been beset by accidents and, after lacking one other six months final 12 months, she contemplated retirement.
Wrist and ankle accidents left Burrage not understanding “how a lot battle” she had left.
However she persevered due to her love for the game and delivered one of many best wins of her profession towards French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean within the Melbourne first spherical.
The reward was the assembly with 2023 US Open champion Gauff on one of many sport’s largest phases.
Whereas earlier appearances on Wimbledon’s Centre Court docket and the US Open’s Louis Armstrong Stadium have been chastening, Burrage settled effectively towards the 20-year-old after one other sluggish begin.
The Englishwoman confirmed braveness to battle again from a break down within the second set, successful 4 successive video games, however cracked when the unlikely probability of forcing a decider appeared.
Gauff’s reduction at successful in two units was illustrated with the message she wrote on the on-court digicam lens afterwards: “Digging deep.”
Talking in her on-court interview moments later, she added: “It was powerful, she was serving rather well so I used to be simply making an attempt to handle that.
“She actually stepped her stage up in the course of the second set so I used to be simply making an attempt to be offensive once I may.”