Coco Gauff emerges from a tough second set to return to Week 2 in French Open

Boston Globe

3 days ago

Gauff, the 21-year-old from Florida, was the runner-up in Paris in 2022 and is seeded No. 2 at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament this year.
Next up for her will be a matchup on Monday against No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova, with the winner moving into the quarterfinals.
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After needing just a half-hour to claim the first set Saturday, Gauff wound up in a 75-minute struggle in the second.
That set included eight breaks of serve in a row as the sounds of popping fireworks drifted over to Court Philippe-Chatrier from the nearby soccer stadium belonging to Paris Saint-Germain, whose fans were gathering to attend a watch party for the 5-0 win over Italy's Inter Milan in the Champions League final in Munich, Germany.
'I served a bit more aggressive in the first set, so I was holding easier, and maybe got a little bit too passive on the serve in the second, and it allowed her to get back into the match,' Gauff said. 'Just keeping the aggressive mindset is something that I can do better for the next match.'
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The key in the second was when Gauff trailed 5-3, 30-love with Bouzkova serving. A total of four times, Bouzkova needed to string together two consecutive points to force a third set.
But Gauff wouldn't allow it, frequently stretching points with her terrific court coverage until she could find space to hit a winner. On one particularly memorable exchange, Gauff sprinted to barely reach a drop shot, scrambled into position to block back a volley, then leaped for an overhead smash.
By the end, Gauff had more than twice as many winners as Bouzkova in the second set, 22 to 11, and also helped herself by winning the point on 11 of her 14 trips to the net.
Gauff is one of five American women in the fourth round. The others are No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 7 Madison Keys, No. 16 Amanda Anisimova, and unseeded Hailey Baptiste.
Pegula, the runner-up at the US Open, came back to eliminate 2019 French Open finalist and 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, and reach the fourth round where she'll face French wild-card entry Lois Boisson.
Baptiste made it into Week 2 at a major for the first time by beating Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1. She will next face Keys, the Australian Open winner in January who saved three match points while down 5-4 in the final set and came back to beat 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
No. 6 Mirra Andreeva, an 18-year-old Russian who reached the semifinals a year ago, advanced to a fourth-round showdown against No. 17 Daria Kasatkina. Anisimova meets No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka for a spot in the quarterfinals.
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Top seed Jannik Sinner was utterly dominant in his straight-set wipeout of Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic Saturday.
Thibault Camus/Associated Press
Sinner looks the part
When Jannik Sinner's opponent in the third round finally won a game Saturday, the Court Suzanne-Lenglen crowd responded with a standing ovation. Sinner was simply too good on this day, extending his Grand Slam winning streak to 17 matches and looking very much like the No. 1-ranked man.
Sinner dominated Jiri Lehecka, 6-0, 6-1, 6-2, in just 1 hour, 34 minutes, the quickest men's match at Roland-Garros this year and, measured by games lost, the most lopsided victory at a major tournament of Sinner's career.
'We try to improve,' Sinner said. 'Today, I don't think there are many things I can improve.'
Sinner delivered 31 winners and made only nine unforced errors. He accumulated 18 break points, converting seven, and faced just one, which he saved.
Make no mistake, though. Lehecka is no also-ran. The 23-year-old from the Czech Republic is ranked 34th and has been a Grand Slam quarterfinalist.
But he was completely overmatched by Sinner, who has won the past two major championships — at the US Open in September and the Australian Open in January — and is now the owner of an unbeaten run at the sport's most important tournaments that's been surpassed this century only by a trio of guys by the names of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.
Sinner's bid for a first French Open title, and fourth Slam trophy overall, will continue Monday, when he'll face No. 17 Andrey Rublev for a quarterfinal berth. Rublev advanced when his opponent, No. 14 Arthur Fils, withdrew from the tournament because a stress fracture in his lower back.
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American qualifier Ethan Quinn, the 2023 NCAA champion for the University of Georgia, played his second consecutive five-setter and was beaten by Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-1, 6-7 (7-2), 6-1, 6-4. Griekspoor came into the day 0-4 in third-round matches at majors.
Griekspoor next meets 2024 runner-up Alexander Zverev, while No. 5 Jack Draper takes on Alexander Bublik. Draper defeated 18-year-old Brazilian João Fonseca, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.