Coco Gauff got back to form with a straight-sets win over Anna Kalinskaya at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Gauff followed up her defeat to Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open with a surprise loss to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in Doha last week.

But the American got back on course with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of Kalinskaya on Tuesday.

Seeded third in Dubai, Gauff fell behind in each set, but demonstrated her powers of recovery on each occasion.

Gauff reeled off four straight games in the opener after losing the first two games, and then saw Kalinskaya call for a medical timeout.

Kalinskaya could not fight her way back from there as Gauff went ahead, and though the two-time major champion suffered an early break of serve in set two, she once again regained her composure.

Gauff sealed the win against serve, and she will take on Elise Mertens in the next round, with the Belgian having defeated Emma Navarro.

31 - Only Martina Hingis (44) has reached more Round of 16 in Tier I / WTA-1000 events than Coco Gauff (31, surpassing Maria Sharapova) since the format was introduced in 1990 before turning 22. Valiant.#DDFTennis | @DDFTennis @WTA pic.twitter.com/K5cK1q7eCo

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) February 17, 2026

However, fellow Americans Jessica Pegula and Iva Jovic did progress, beating Varvara Gracheva and Diana Shnaider, respectively. 

Pegula and Jovic will take each other on in the next round.

Data Debrief: Gauff surpasses Sharapova

Gauff has now made it into the round of 16 at 31 WTA 1000 events. In the process.

Since the format was introduced in 1990, only Martin Hingis (44) has reached the last 16 at WTA 1000 tournaments on more occasions than Gauff before turning 22.

In reaching her 31st such match, Gauff surpassed Maria Sharapova's tally of 30 before she turned 22.