Coco Gauff vs Leylah Fernandez Prediction Australian Open Tennis Picks 1/17/25

Coco Gauff and Leylah Fernandez meet in the third round of the 2025 Australian Open on Friday, January 17, 2025. Here’s our Coco Gauff vs Leylah Fernandez prediction. This preview also includes a Coco Gauff vs Leylah Fernandez pick.

Coco Gauff Preview

Coco Gauff withstood a brave fightback from Jodie Burrage to advance into the third round of the Australian Open.

Gauff came close to dropping her first set of the week, but got a late break back to level the second set, and eventually prevailed in straight sets.

The match took 21 games to decide and lasted an hour and 31 minutes. The third seed won 6-3, 7-5. In the victory, Gauff recorded 14 winners and 18 unforced errors. She hit three aces and seven double faults.

Gauff landed 58% of first serves and won 67% of first-serve points (26/39). She won 54% of second-serve points (15/28).

Gauff held in eight of 11 service games in the match and saved two of five break points on her serve. She won 50% of return points (34/68) and 45% of net points (5/11).

The American converted five of 11 break points in the match. She has built a nine-match winning run from last season.

Leylah Fernandez Preview

World No. 29 Leylah Fernandez secured a come-from-behind victory against Cristina Bucsa. The match took 29 games to decide and lasted two hours and 28 minutes. Fernandez won 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

The Canadian lefty recorded 30 winners and 40 unforced errors. She tallied two aces and seven double faults. Fernandez landed 57% of first serves and won 60% of first-serve points (38/63).

Fernandez won 62% of second-serve points (29/47). She held in 12 of 15 service games in the match and saved seven of 10 break points on her serve.

Fernandez won 38% of return points (35/91) and 56% of net points (9/16), converting three of nine break points.

This was Fernandez’s fifth match win of the new season.

Coco Gauff vs Leylah Fernandez Head-To-Head

• Gauff overpowered Fernandez in their only career meeting at the 2025 United Cup.

Coco Gauff vs Leylah Fernandez Prediction

I just don’t see Gauff losing before the second week. She’s so reliable at this stage of a Grand Slam. Gauff easily won this fixture at the United Cup a few weeks ago, losing only five games to Fernandez. The Canadian doesn’t possess the tools to hurt Gauff even though Britain’s Jodie Burrage gave us a blueprint on how to make the American vulnerable. 

Gauff’s forehand was an area of weakness as recently as last year, but opponents are almost baffled that it doesn’t leak as many errors as before. The improvements are evident. She’s very comfortable absorbing power with that shot and can vary pace with it. It would take a poor serving performance from Gauff for Fernandez to keep this close, so the wise move is to go with a straight sets win for the third seed.