Coco Gauff survives scare, Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie both progress to next round at Indian Wells

Coco Gauff survived a real scare to come back from a set down to defeat Clara Burel in the second round of Indian Wells.

Gauff, a home favourite in the women’s draw, found herself 6-2 2-0 down in the second set, and was then under the cosh at 0-4 and 2-5 in the decider, but pulled out a 2-6 6-3 7-6(4) victory to progress into the third round.

It was the first time that Gauff, the No. 3 seed in California, had played a competitive match in her home nation since her US Open final victory over Aryna Sabalenka last year in New York City.

Gauff, whose serve has been criticised throughout the course of her career, came unstuck in her service games once more, double faulting 10 times on course to being broken six times.

However, when she was 6-2 2-0 down in the second set, she rallied to win five straight games, and showed her true quality in the deciding tie-break, as Burel ran out of steam.

It was delight for the Britons as Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie both made it safely through to the third round.

Raducanu faced Dayana Yastremska, the 30th seed, and the British wild card raced into a 4-0 lead in the opening set after 21 minutes.

However, Yastremska was forced to retire after feeling unwell, giving Raducanu an early ticket into the third round, where she will face the winner of Sabalenka, the world No. 2, or Peyton Stearns.

Norrie, meanwhile, beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 6-4 to start his season on the American hard courts in good style.

The world No. 28 had withdrawn from the recent Mexican Open with a hamstring injury, but he looked in fine fettle in California to see off Sonego.

The Briton, the 2021 champion at Indian Wells, needed 90 minutes to see off his Italian opponent, with Sonego winning their only other encounter in the last 16 of Monte Carlo in 2019.

This time, however, it was Norrie who was the better man, showing his quality to put initial disappointments – he dropped a match point at 5-2 in the second set – behind him and claim a victory that will see him face either Gael Monfils or Hubert Hurkacz, the eighth seed, in the next round.