Jodie Burrage battled Coco Gauff before suffering a second-round loss at the Australian Open.
The 25-year-old Englishman had won just twice when the pair last met on grass in 2023 but threatened to take the form player of the game to a deciding set before falling 6-3 7-5.
Burrage missed most of last season with wrist and ankle injuries and has vowed to enjoy the experience of playing on one of the biggest courts in the world.
After a shaky start at Rod Laver Arena, she did just that, playing her best tennis and really tormenting third seed Gauff.
Down 3-1 in the second set, Burrage won four straight games to force a decider, but Gauff battled back to reach the third round.
Mr. Burrage has experience playing at Wimbledon Center Court and the US Open Louis Armstrong Stadium, and looked around Rod Laver Arena on his way out.
It threatened to be a quick evening when Gauff took a 3-0 lead and Burrage looked relieved to his coaching team after holding serve at 15-40 in the next game.
From there, Burrage began to play increasingly better, taking the lead at every opportunity and putting Gauff on the back foot.
The American moved the set and broke away, but Burrage broke serve twice in a row. However, she was unable to complete the set at 5-3, and a series of double faults gave Gauff another break at 5-5.
“It was a tough one. She was serving really well,” the former U.S. Open champion said. “I was just trying to manage it.
“She really stepped up her level midway through the second set. I tried to be as aggressive as possible and when I got even a little short, she was hitting winners.”
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