BEIJING (AP) — Coco Gauff saved four set points before beating 16th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (5), 6-2 Thursday in the third round of the China Open.

The victory extended the third-ranked American's winning streak to 15 matches, a span that includes the Cincinnati title and her U.S. Open victory last month. Gauff will next meet either sixth-seeded Maria Sakkari or local favorite Wang Xinyu in the quarterfinals.

Kudermetova led 5-4, 40-0 at the end of the first set. The 26-year-old Russian had four set points in that game but was unable to convert.

Earlier, ninth-seeded Caroline Garcia beat Anhelina Kalinina 6-3, 6-2 and will next play second-ranked Iga Swiatek.

Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka will play Jasmine Paolini later Thursday.

SHANGHAI MASTERS

Gregoire Barrere beat Nonu Borges 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of the Shanghai Masters to set up a meeting with top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz.

Stefano Napolitano, who made the main draw after qualifying opponent

Marc Polmans was defaulted for hitting the ball into the face of the chair umpire

, lost to qualifier Beibit Zhukayev 7-5, 7-5.

Other winners included Rinky Hijikata, Lorenzo Sonego, Aleksander Vukic, Arthur Fils, Mikhail Kukushkin and Tseng Chun-hsin.

The top 32 seeded players, including Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev, received a first-round bye and will play in the second round on Saturday.

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AP tennis:

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