US teenager Coco Gauff has beaten Romanian Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to set up a third-round match against defending champion Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open.
The two met in the US Open third round last September, with Naomi prevailing and having to console the 15 year-old, who had broken into tears.
To beat Cirstea, Coco rallied after losing the first set and got the pivotal service break in the next-to-last game before serving out against 29-year-old Cirstea, who is playing at the Australian Open for a 12th time.
Gauff started the tournament with her second first-round win over Venus Williams in three majors, following her upset over the seven-time Grand Slam champion at last year’s Wimbledon.
Osaka had to overcame swirling winds on Margaret Court Arena to beat Zheng Saisai 6-2, 6-4 in one of the first matches on Day 3.
Gauff reached the fourth round on her Wimbledon debut and the third round at the U.S. Open.
