Coco Gauff Advances at Roland Garros After a Complicated Match
Paris – Coco Gauff, seeded number two, overcame a challenging match in the second round of the French Open, securing her place in the next phase. Gauff, who is seeking her first title at Roland Garros, defeated Tereza Valentova, coming from the qualifying rounds, with a score of 6-2, 6-4 in 75 minutes.The match, played on the Suzanne-Lenglen court under a partly cloudy sky, presented several challenges for Gauff. Despite the interruptions from sirens on nearby streets and shouts coming from other courts, Gauff managed to advance, although with some ups and downs in her performance.
Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, recorded only 11 winners, five fewer than her opponent, who has less experience. In addition, she committed 23 unforced errors, including six double faults.Valentova, 18, and winner of the junior title at Roland Garros last year, broke Gauff’s serve on five occasions, four of them in the second set. However, Gauff responded immediately on each occasion, recovering Valentova’s serve in the following game.
“There’s a sense of urgency after you get broken, of course. You don’t want to fall too far behind. You don’t want to be two breaks down. You can live with one break. But you definitely have to serve better and do a better job of holding serve as the tournament goes on,” Gauff’s father, Corey, commented.
Corey Gauff
Gauff’s next challenge will be the Czech Marie Bouzkova. This match represents an opportunity for Gauff to advance to the fourth round in Paris for the fifth consecutive time.
In other notable results of the day, Jessica Pegula, Mirra Andreeva, and Marketa Vondrousova also secured their place in the next phase. Vondrousova, who eliminated Magdalena Frech, watched the match between Gauff and Valentova from the stands.
