No.5 seed Coco Gauff of the United States charged into the Rothesay International quarterfinals with a commanding 6-1, 6-1 victory over British lucky loser Jodie Burrage on Wednesday.
Gauff will face her compatriot and doubles partner Jessica Pegula in a quarterfinal in Eastbourne. The No.3 seed Pegula overcame Colombian qualifier Camila Osorio 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 to set the showdown between the top two Americans on tour.
Pegula defeated Gauff 6-4, 6-4 in their only previous singles meeting, on the hard courts of Dubai last year.
Gauff needed just 59 minutes to oust 128th-ranked Burrage, the Nottingham runner-up from two weeks ago. Gauff won nearly 60 percent of points on return as she reached her first grass-court quarterfinal of the 2023 season.
"Happy with how I played," Gauff said in her post-match press conference. "It was a fairly straightforward match. Looking forward to taking this momentum into the rest of the week."
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World No.7 Gauff fired rally passing shots to earn a break for 3-1 in the opening set, and the 19-year-old American swept to the one-set lead from there. Gauff extended her control up to a 5-0 lead in the second set.
Burrage made her mark in the following game with a break at love -- the first time Gauff dropped her serve during the first two rounds of the tournament. However, Gauff immediately broke back to wrap up the win. Gauff finished the match with 18 winners to just eight unforced errors.
World No.4 Pegula had a sterner test against 81st-ranked Osorio before triumphing in 1 hour and 47 minutes.
American No.1 Pegula collected her 29th match-win of the season, which is the fourth-most on tour this year, behind only Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.
Highlights: Pegula def. Osorio
In the opening set, Osorio saved the first five break points she faced before she fired a backhand long and ceded the first break to Pegula at 3-2. Pegula swept to the one-set lead from there.
Osorio fought back in the second set, as she sought her second Top 5 win of the year, having already upset Caroline Garcia in Rome. Osorio earned a double-break for 4-0 with a winning backhand slice down the line, eventually leveling the match at one set apiece.
But Pegula won the decisive game at 4-3 in the third set, where she cracked a forehand winner at the end of a lengthy rally to set up triple-break point. Osorio hit a backhand long on the first break point, giving Pegula a 5-3 lead. The American served out the final game at love.
