Birmingham champion Yulia Putintseva won the last four games to knock 2023 champion and No.2 seed Coco Gauff out of the Cincinnati Open on Thursday, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Playing this week for the first time since reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon — where she knocked out World No.1 Iga Swiatek along the way — Putintseva beat Great Britain’s Harriet Dart from a set behind in the opening round before stunning Gauff from 4-2 down the final set for her 13th career Top 10 win.
Putintseva was previously 0-3 against Gauff in her career, all on clay — but after picking up her second career win over a reigning World No.1 against Swiatek on the grass, earned her second career win over a World No.2 against Gauff. Prior to this season, Putintseva hadn’t beaten a Top 5 player in a completed match since 2019, but is now 7-26 in her career against such opponents.
Putintseva will face Washington D.C. champion Paula Badosa in the Round of 16 — the last Top 5 player Putintseva beat (via retirement in 2022, when she was ranked No.3) before this season. The Spaniard eased past No. 13 seed Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2 earlier in the day to improve to 8-1 in the summer hard-court season.