Defending champion Coco Gauff withstood a gruelling examination by Leylah Fernandez on Sunday, battling through 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to keep her hopes of winning back-to-back China Opens alive.<\/p>\n
“I did what I needed to do to win today,” the 21-year-old American said.<\/p>\n
“It was very physical,” Gauff<\/a> said. “We were going back and forth.”<\/p>\n Gauff looked in control in the first set, but the gritty Fernandez<\/a> hit back in the second to force a decider.<\/p>\n The 25th-ranked Canadian survived a match point to level at 5-5, but Gauff finally clinched the two-hour 45-minute marathon<\/a> when Fernandez netted.<\/p>\n The world number three next plays either Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic<\/a> or qualifier Priscilla Hon<\/a> of Australia for a place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n In the men’s draw, Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti<\/a> apologised on court after his match on Sunday for an outburst at coughing fans earlier in the tournament.<\/p>\n “Well first of all, I want to say… a public apology,” the 23-year-old Italian said in English after beating France’s Adrian Mannarino<\/a> 6-3, 6-3<\/a> to move into the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n Fans booed when he entered the court for the match and some were making loud guttural coughing noises.<\/p>\n “I totally understand your point and I… regret what I’ve said and what I’ve done, so sorry, thanks for understanding,” he said.<\/p>\n The on-court interviewer, however, did not translate his apology into Chinese for the fans, only relaying Musetti’s brief comments about the match.<\/p>\n In the women’s draw, Germany’s Eva Lys<\/a> stunned world number 10 and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina<\/a> 6-3, 1-6, 6-4<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I was trying to get a top 10 win the whole year,” said the 23-year-old Lys, ranked 66.<\/p>\n “This is my first one. I’m very happy I finally got it done.”<\/p>\n Poland’s Iga Swiatek<\/a> is the top seed at the WTA 1000 event after world number one Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> withdrew.<\/p>\n