BEIJING — Coco Gauff saved four set points before beating 16th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (5), 6-2 on Thursday in the third round of the China Open.
The victory extended the third-ranked American’s winning streak to 15 matches, a span that includes the Cincinnati title and her US Open victory last month. In the quarterfinals, Gauff will face sixth-seeded Maria Sakkari, who defeated local favorite Wang Xinyu 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Kudermetova led 5-4, 40-0 at the end of the first set. The 26-year-old Russian player had four set points in that game but was unable to convert.
Earlier, ninth-seeded Caroline Garcia beat Anhelina Kalinina 6-3, 6-2 and will next play second-ranked Iga Swiatek.
Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka will play Jasmine Paolini later Thursday.
Stefano Napolitano, who made the main draw after qualifying opponent Marc Polmans was defaulted for hitting the ball into the face of the chair umpire, lost to qualifier Beibit Zhukayev 7-5, 7-5.
Other winners included Rinky Hijikata, Lorenzo Sonego, Aleksandar Vukic, Arthur Fils, Mikhail Kukushkin and Tseng Chun-hsin.
The top 32 seeded players, including Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev, received a first-round bye and will play in the second round Saturday.