Elise Mertens defeated Coco Gauff in the round of 16 in Beijing 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Without a deciding set
Mertens took the opening set and then extended her advantage in the second. Gauff was unable to push the match to a deciding set: both sets ended with the same score.
On the way to this match, Mertens had to play deciding sets: she beat Katie Volynets 6-0, 4-6, 7-5, and then Elena Ostapenko 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Gauff overcame Camila Osorio 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2 and Xinran Sun 7-5, 6-1. Unlike Mertens' previous matches, her meeting with Gauff ended without a long battle across sets.
According to api.tennis, this result means the two players have now met 3 times. Mertens has one win, while Gauff has two. Mertens cut into the deficit, but Gauff still leads the head-to-head.