Last year’s runner-up Coco Gauff overcame a shaky start to end fellow teenager Mirra Andreeva‘s French Open run with a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-1 victory on Saturday to reach the fourth round.
On a sunny afternoon, Gauff struggled to handle Russian Andreeva’s firepower before finding her stride to set up a meeting with Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia or American qualifier Kayla Day with a potential quarterfinal clash against holder Iga Swiatek looming.
“Mirra, she’s super young and has a big future for her. I remember when I was here as a 15-year-old, she has a look to lot forward to,” said the 19-year-old Gauff.
“In the first set, I had chances, we traded breaks and overall I knew the game plan so I tried to execute it in the second and third sets. We practiced together earlier (before the draw) so I’m sure she picked up things from my game and I picked things from hers.”
The 16-year-old Andreeva, who burst onto the scene with two victories over top-20 players at the Madrid Open, forced Gauff onto the back foot with her explosive power from the baseline and took a 4-2 lead, only to allow the American to claw her way back.
In a first set where both players struggled to hold serve, Gauff went up 5-4 and 30-0 but got broken again before a poor shot at the net in the tiebreak gifted Andreeva the chance to take the advantage in the match.
The Russian wasted her first two set points and received a warning after hitting the ball into the packed Suzanne Lenglen stands.
She picked herself up, however, to bag the set with a swinging volley.
Andreeva then smashed her racket onto the ground in frustration as Gauff took the upper hand in the second set, winning five games in a row to level the match.
The American broke for 3-1 in the decider and did not look back, ending Andreeva’s misery on her first match point.
Also Saturday, top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland blanked Xinyu Wang of China 6-0, 6-0 with a flawless display to stay firmly on course to successfully defend her French Open title and fire a warning to her rivals.
Swiatek, aiming to win her third trophy in Paris in five years, showed no weaknesses as she cruised into the fourth round.
She has now dropped just eight games in her three matches in Paris, while winning four of the six sets she has played to love.
“For sure, I am happy. It was a very strong performance from me and I was happy I was disciplined and took care of everything,” Swiatek said.
“Every point is important for me and at the highest…
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