Tennis: Coco Gauff begins clay campaign with win over Liudmila Samsonova at the 2026 Stuttgart Grand Prix

U.S. tennis star Coco Gauff authored a remarkable turnaround against World No. 21 Liudmila Samsonova at the 2026 Stuttgart Tennis Grand Prix on Thursday (16 April), overcoming a rollercoaster start to her clay campaign with a 7-5, 6-1 straight-sets victory.

Plagued by service troubles throughout the match, the two-time Grand Slam singles champion fell behind early in the first set. She dropped three straight games to Samsonova, but rebounded with back-to-back break points to pull ahead at 4-3.

While Gauff seemed poised to take control of the match, the plot thickened when she dropped a third game at 4-5. Her blunder handed the unseeded 27-year-old a golden opportunity to send the North American star packing before she’d even reached the serious end of the draw.

But the No. 2 seed refused to concede the first set on such terms. She clawed her way back into the match, stealing a third break point off Samsonova. The momentum swung in her favour soon after, and she snatched the first set from the jaws of defeat at 7-5.

From then on, the 22-year-old superstar was in full control of the match. She dropped a single game to Samsonova in the second set, cruising to a spot in the quarter-finals for only the third time at the Stuttgart Tennis Grand Prix – a tournament she’s never won.

“I started off a little bit rough,” Gauff said after the match. “But I’m happy to get through today I never really have easy first-round matches here in Stuttgart, so I guess the trend continued a bit today, but I’m happy to be in the next round.”

Despite an up-and-down first set, the U.S. star won 62.5 per cent of first-service points – recording seven aces in the process. She also saved three of six break points faced, and won 55.4 percent of return points.

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