2023 champ Gauff remains unbeaten vs. Li to book spot in Cincy's final 16

CINCINNATI -- No. 4 seed and 2023 champion Coco Gauff secured her spot in the fourth round of the 2026 Cincinnati Open, courtesy of a 6-1, 7-6 (3) win over fellow American Ann Li. 

Gauff now improves 4-0 all-time against Li, though Tuesday was the first WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz hard-court meeting. She now awaits the winner of Iva Jovic and Marie Bouzkova, which closes out the night session on Grandstand Court. 

"Honestly today was a little bit tougher for me coming from night to day, trying to control the ball a little bit, but overall I'm happy with how I played," Gauff said to press. "Ann's not an easy opponent to play. She has a lot of variety in her game so I'm happy to get through."

"I think today I was just trying to accelerate a little bit more because I found at first I was trying to focus on keeping it in and keeping it down because we were both missing really long a lot," Gauff added. "Here with these conditions, if you let up a little bit, the balls just going to fly."

The 29-minute first set was flawless for Gauff, who held her serve during all her service games, including withstanding two break point chances for Li in a game that saw four deuces midway through the first set. Gauff won 68% of her first service points in the match.

The second set would be a different story, and though Li dropped her serve the opening game, she bounced back with a break of her own. Eventually, Li seemed on her way to forcing a decider by going up a break at 5-3, but the service woes reappeared as Gauff got the break back. In the tiebreak, it was smooth sailing for Gauff who moves to her sixth WTA 1000 fourth round of the season. 

"It depends on what tournament, Gauff said on her preference for day or night session. "The crowds are a little bit better at night, it's not as hot, and there's more people. It is nice to play in day too. Usually I prefer day just to get it over with for that reason, but in the U.S. it's a different story."

What the win means?

4-for-4: Gauff and Li have squared off three times on the WTA Tour, and once on the ITF/World Tennis stage. Aside from Cincinnati, Gauff has wins in Madrid (2025), Berlin (2022) and Surprise, Arizona (2019).

Lucky No. 7: With Tuesday's win over Li, Gauff has now beaten seven opponents on all three surfaces at tour level. The rest include Katerina Siniakova, Elise Mertens, Ons Jabeur, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Belinda Bencic and Solana Sierra.

36th Fourth Round: Gauff is now into her 36th career WTA 1000 fourth round, including six this season. Only Aryna Sabalenka (44), Karolina Pliskova (44, Elina Svitolina (43), Iga Swiatek (38) and Jessica Pegula (38) have more among active players competing in Cincinnati singles.