Coco Guaff returns a service ball from Anhelina Kalinina on Stadium Cout at the San Jose State Tennis Center on Tuesday AUG 2, 2022. (Ed Jay-Ultimate Sports Guide)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Coco Gauff is a woman possessed while having fun all at the same time.

Gauff needed just 54 minutes to defeat Anhelina Kalinina in straight sets 6-1 6-0 in the featured evening match on Day 2 of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classico at the San Jose State Tennis Center.

At just 18-years old, Gauff is currently ranked 11th in the world and is starting to become a force on the WTA Tour. She finished the match with seven aces and won 89% of his first serve points, including a kill shot to clinch the victory.

The 25-year-old Kalinina did not have any answers to what Gauff threw at her in the mismatch.

“I think it was just one of those days where everything was working,” said Gauff. “I think against anybody, I would’ve won tonight. Everything was in place. I mean even the challenges I made were going my way. A that point, if you’re on the other side of the net, you can’t get mad, it’s just not your night.”

Gauff said she really fed off the energy of the near capacity crowd.

“I think it made me play better. It felt almost like a concert, with everybody just enjoying the show. Obviously, San Jose, I’m going to be honest, I didn’t know how the crowd was going to be, I didn’t know what to expect. The crowd’s energy was so loud and straight forward,” Gauff said.

Naomi Osaka made her triumphant return to the Bay Area when she defeated Zheng Qinwen in a three-set victory 6-4 3-6 6-1in the final match of the afternoon.

Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion, jumped out to a one set lead before Zheng came back to take the second set that had Osaka frustrated at times. However, Osaka, ranked 41st in the world, cruised to victory in the third set by winning the first five games of the match as she used her serve and backhand to dominate Zheng to close it out.

“I definitely would say I had a lot of confidence in that third set. I’m not sure if this is subconscious or not. But I do remember thinking it’s going to be very hard for her to break me because I’ve learned a lot challenging that last ball of the game that I did get broken,” Osaka said.

American Shelby Rogers defeated the 2019 US Open Champion Bianca Andreescu in straight sets 6-4 6-2. Andreescu experienced pain in her back during the first set when it was 3-2. She tried getting it stretched out in between the first and second sets but the pain hindered her playing capabilities the rest of the set.

“My hope was for a miracle to happen I guess,” Andreescu said regarding the physical therapy she received on the court. “(Hoping) Shelby (Rogers) would start missing every shot. I am the type of person that just pushes through things. I’ve retired (from matches) so many times, I honestly didn’t want to do that again.”

Rogers was able to take advantage with her serve and outpowered Andreescu to cruise to victory in the second set in a match that lasted 91 minutes. Rogers has a showdown with top seed Maria Sakkari on Thursday evening.

“We’ve all been in that situation and if you’re not feeling 100 percent you want to fight even harder and not miss a ball. It’s sort of the ‘wounded bear syndrome’ where you don’t feel great, so you have nothing to lose. So, you have to focus even harder,” Rogers said.

In earlier action during the afternoon, Caroline Dolehide defeated Kayla Day in straight sets 7-6 6-4 in the day’s opening match.

Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova earned a three-set victory over Italy’s Camila Giorgi 7-6 4-6 7-5 to advance to the round of 16. The 19th ranked Kudermetova had a comfortable lead 5-2 lead in the second set only to have Giorgi storm back to tie it at 5-5.

Kudermetova finished off the match winning the final two games to complete the epic match that finished in just under three hours (2:54).

In doubles action, the team of Caroline Dolehide and Storm Sanders defeated the team of Natela Dzalamidze and Kamilla Rakhimova in straight sets 6-3 7-6. The American duo of Ashlyn Krueger and Elizabeth Mandlik defeated the team of Karolina Pliskova and Jil Teichmann also in straight sets 7-6 6-1 and the team consisting of Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs had a straight sets victory over Amina Anshba and Elena Rybakina 6-2 6-2.

The final match of the evening had Clair Liu defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia in straight sets 6-2 7-5.

NEWS AND NOTES: Today’s Day session attendance was 2,005. It was the highest for a day session for this tournament since 2011.

UP NEXT: Madison Keys takes on #3 seed Ons Jabeur in the featured evening match on Wednesday at 7:00pm.