MELBOURNE -- US Open champion Coco Gauff advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open for the third time in her career after defeating Alycia Parks 6-0, 6-2 in 61 minutes on Friday.
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With her win over Parks, Gauff, 19, extended her win streak at the Grand Slams to 10 consecutive matches dating back to her triumphant title run in New York last fall. She is the fifth teenager since 2000 to win 10 consecutive matches at Grand Slam events, joining Serena Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova and Iga Swiatek.
In the Open Era, she is also only the fourth American teenager to win 10 consecutive Grand Slam singles matches, after Chris Evert, Tracy Austin and Serena Williams.
Gauff remains undefeated in the new season, moving her record to 8-0. She has lost just one set this year.
All smiles with that performance 😁@CocoGauff cruises past Parks 6-0 6-2 to reach the fourth round.#AusOpen • #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/KCSRSRcQqC
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2024
In the first career meeting between the two Atlanta-born and Florida-raised childhood friends, Gauff's steadiness diffused Parks' power game from the baseline. Heading into the match, Gauff and Parks sat No.1 and No.2 on the tournament's serve-speed leaderboard. Gauff struck a 123.7 m.p.h serve in the first round, followed by Parks at 122.4 m.p.h.
"I've never hit with her," Gauff said. "It was tough to kind of put something into action. I was really just trying to do what I do against everybody else: keep the ball deep, open up the court, try to move her as much as I could. I don't think she played her best tennis today. I know when she's at her best, she's a tough player to play."
The differential in big-match experience was evident in Margaret Court Arena. Playing in the third round of a major for the first time in her career, Parks struggled to find her vaunted first serve and powerful baseline game to hit through Gauff. Parks served at just 48 percent in the match, giving Gauff too many second-serve chances.
Gauff dominated Parks' service games throughout the match, landing 79 percent of her returns and holding Parks to just 41 percent of service points won. On her own serve, Gauff served at 67 percent and did not face a break point. She lost just three points when she landed her first serve in.
"The game plan was just to on her serve, just make returns," Gauff said. "She has a big serve and she goes for it every single serve, which is something I really respect. She has a big game. If she keeps working, she's going to be at the top of the game, too."
As Parks struggled to match Gauff's baseline consistency -- she finished with 11 winners to 34 unforced errors -- Gauff grew ever stingier as the match wore on. She finished the match with just eight unforced errors.
Gauff will face Poland's Magdalena Frech for a spot in her first Melbourne quarterfinal. Frech came back to defeat Qualifier Anastasia Zakharova 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the second week of a Slam for the first time in her career.