Two points from defeat, Gauff escapes Collins in Montreal

Top seed Coco Gauff was given all she could handle by fellow American Danielle Collins on Tuesday night at the Omnium Banque Nationale -- but escaped after nearly three hours to earn her first match-win since winning Roland Garros in June.

Montreal: Draws | Scores | Order of play

Gauff was two points away from defeat in the third set of her eventual 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2) win, as Collins wiped away deficits of 2-0 and 4-2 over the last 80 minutes of the match. But Collins never reached match point, and lost nine of the last 11 points played inside IGA Stadium.

Gauff, the top seed, confessed afterward that her first career head-to-head matchup against Collins was "a frustrating match for me."

"I was practicing well and I don't think I transferred it today, but hopefully I got my bad match of the tournament out of the way," Gauff said after striking 23 double faults and 74 unforced errors. 

"Maybe if I cut that in half, it would be a quicker match for me. I thought that I was playing well, except that part of my game.

"Danielle is a great ball striker and for me to break her as many times as I did, there's definitely some positives to take from today."

Earlier in the match, Gauff regrouped after losing a 5-2 lead in the first set -- having been down a service break on the scoreboard twice before that. In set two, she lost a 3-1 lead, as Collins extended the match by winning five of the last six games. 

But the former Top 10 player was erratic, too: She hit 13 double faults herself, and 80 unforced errors in the match. Both players broke serve nine times.

Gauff will face another former Top 10 player, Veronika Kudermetova next. The former World No. 9 was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over No. 29 seed Olga Danilovic in the second round.