Coco Gauff had to hold her nerve in a tight second set but came out on top against Ann Li to book her place in the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open.

The 2023 Cincinnati champion looked set to cruise through but eventually battled to a 6-1 7-6 (7-3) victory in 96 minutes.

Li held off a break point in her first service game, but she could do nothing against Gauff's aggressive approach after that, with the fourth seed winning five straight games to take the first set.

Gauff did have to defend two break points in the fifth game to go on that run, and extended it into the second set, breaking Li's serve again in the opener.

However, the 26-year-old immediately cancelled out that advantage and looked set to force a decider as she took a 5-3 lead with her second break.

Gauff pulled back level in the following game, eventually going to a tie-break where the 22-year-old raced into a 6-1 lead but saw two match points go begging before converting her third.

In Total Control

Coco Gauff defeats fellow American, Li, in straight sets.#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/N8HyGt0Ewr

— wta (@WTA) August 18, 2026

Mirra Andreeva also booked her place in the last 16 after surviving a stern test from Janice Tjen.

Like Gauff, she was in total control after the first set, though she eventually had to fight to earn her 6-1 7-6 (7-5) victory, with the second set lasting one hour and 14 minutes.

She will face Marta Kostyuk, whose route into the fourth round was not straightforward either, as she found herself a break down in both sets, but she rallied to a 7-5 7-5 win over Sloane Stephens.

But Elina Svitolina's time at Cincinnati has come to an end as she withdrew ahead of her third-round match against Wang Xiyu due to an ankle issue.

Gauff and Andreeva show WTA-1000 prowess once again

Only Elena Rybakina (24) has claimed more wins in WTA-1000 events this season than Gauff (21).

But the American also had a record of hers broken on Tuesday, as Andreeva claimed her 54th win at such events, surpassing Gauff (53) for the outright-most of any teenager since the format's introduction in 2009.

And the Russian reached a 16th career round of 16 at WTA-1000 events, equalling Gauff for the most of any teenager in the format since 2009. 

As for Gauff, she is now through to a 36th career last 16 at WTA-1000 level, trailing just five currently active players – Aryna Sabalenka, Karolina Pliskova (44 each), Svitolina (43), Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula (39 each).