Gauff Defeats No. 2 Seed Sabalenka to Reach WTA Lexington Quarterfinals; Kuznetsova Withdraws from US Open; Vukic Wins UTR Pro Series Event in Australia; NCAA Extends Dead Period Again

Coco Gauff wasn't happy with her serving performance today at the WTA International tournament in Lexington Kentucky, but the 16-year-old still managed to advanced to the Top Seed Open quarterfinals, beating No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4. 

Gauff, who had eight double faults in the match, led 5-2 in the first set, lost four straight games, but broke Sabalenka serving for the set at 6-5, and held on in the tiebreaker after building a 5-0 lead. She went down 5-2 in the second set, got back on serve, but was broken at love at 4-5 to send the match into a third set. 

Gauff squandered leads in the third set, but she broke the WTA's 11th-ranked player at 4-all, with her outstanding defense forcing the big-hitting 22-year-old to go for too much. In a match with 14 breaks of serve, it was far from certain that Gauff would be able to close out the match, but, in what is becoming her signature, she bore down when she had to, got first serves in and held at 15 for the victory, her second WTA quarterfinal in her brief career. Gauff, who now has three WTA Top 20 wins, will play No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in Friday's quarterfinals.

Former UCLA star Jennifer Brady also defeated a seed today to advance to the quarterfinals, beating No. 6 seed Magda Linette of Poland 6-2, 6-3. Brady will face unseeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic in Friday's quarterfinals. It is Brady's sixth quarterfinal at the WTA level.

Thursday's second round matches include top seed Serena Williams against sister Venus; CiCi Bellis versus Jessica Pegula, No. 5 seed Yulia Puntintseva of Kazakhstan versus Jil Teichmann of Switzerland and wild card Shelby Rogers against 17-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada. 

Another official announcement from the USTA today regarding the upcoming US Open, with 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia withdrawing from the event. Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic moves into the main draw, leaving Caroline Dolehide, who has been announced as a wild card recipient earlier, next into the main draw.

The updated women's US Open entry list is available here.

The UTR Pro Series continues in Australia, and former University of Illinois star Aleks Vukic won his second title on the circuit today in Sydney. The 24-year-old Vukic, the top seed, defeated Nikita Volonski 6-2, 6-2 in the men's single final to extend his winning streak to seven. Twenty-year-old Destanee Aiava also earned a second consecutive title in Sydney, and her third in the UTR Pro Series, beating Alexandra Bozovic 7-6(6), 5-7, 11-9 in the women's final. For more, see this article from Tennis Australia.

The NCAA announced yet another extension of the recruiting dead period, which now goes through September 30th. No in person recruiting or campus visits are allowed in any sport. The Division I Council made additional minimum recommendations for student-athletes competing in fall sports, but the official announcement of the new rules has been delayed until August 21.