Frenchwoman Clara Burel almost created a surprise but ended up losing against American world No.3 Coco Gauff (2-6, 6-3, 7-6) in the second round of the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells on Saturday.
Burel, aged 22 and 47th player in the world, led 5-2 in the last set and even served to win the match at 5-3 before being dominated by the last winner of the US Open in the tie-break of the third set (7-4).
As the top seed, Gauff (19) made her entry into the competition on Saturday with this match scheduled to open at Stadium N.1, where the public was surprised by the difficulties displayed by her favorite.
After reaching the semi-final of the Australian Open in January (beaten by Aryna Sabalenka), Gauff lost in the 2nd round of the Masters 1000 in Doha then in the quarterfinals of that of Dubai in February.
She remained on a quarter-final at Indian Wells last year, her best result in the Californian desert.