Not too far in the past, Coco Gauff made a big splash at the age of 15 by beating Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2019.
As time passes, it was Gauff who had more court experience during Saturday’s match against 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva. The two highly skilled teenage tennis players engaged in a challenging and competitive battle.
The American initially lost the first set in a tiebreak, but then bounced back to defeat Andreeva in the following two sets. This resulted in a 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-1 victory, allowing them to move on to the fourth round of the French Open.
“We trained together this week,” Gauff, who is only 19 years old, stated in her post-match interview with the Guardian. “I’m not sure if it had an impact on the match – it’s all about adapting, that’s the nature of tennis.”
“Today’s game was not going to be a walk in the park. She has earned her spot and has the potential to go even further.”
According to the WTA, Andreeva made history in April by celebrating her 16th birthday and becoming the youngest player to reach the third round at Roland Garros since 2005.
For the initial 65 minutes of the game, it appeared that Andreeva could maintain her rapid ascent with an unexpected win as she relentlessly targeted Gauff’s weaker forehand with powerful serves and ultimately won the tiebreak for the set.
Even though she is young, Gauff has participated in multiple French Open tournaments and made it to the final last year. Drawing from this previous experience, she adjusted her game, improved her second serve, and utilized her strong backhand to ultimately outplay Andreeva.
Gauff is set to compete against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, an unseeded player, for a spot in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
In other parts of the women’s bracket, Iga Swiatek, who is currently ranked as the top player in the world and also the defending champion, advanced to the fourth round with a dominant 6-0 6-0 victory over China’s Wang Xinyu. However, Elena Rybakina, who is ranked as the fourth best player in the world, withdrew from the French Open due to an upper respiratory illness.
Source: cnn.com
