Gauff advances at French Open despite struggles

PARIS -- Coco Gauff kept getting herself in trouble with shaky serving in the French Open's second round, and she kept putting herself back in position to win by breaking right back Thursday.

The second-seeded Gauff, pursuing her first title at Roland Garros, eliminated 172nd-ranked qualifier Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4 in 75 minutes on a partly cloudy, warm afternoon on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Amid a soundtrack of sirens from nearby streets and roars from nearby courts, 2023 US Open champion Gauff managed to produce only 11 winners, five fewer than her far-less-experienced opponent. Gauff finished with 23 unforced errors, a total that included a half-dozen double faults.

Against Valentova -- an 18-year-old who won the junior title at the French Open last year and was competing in the main draw at a major tournament for the first time -- Gauff got broken five times. Four of those came in the second set, and each time, the 21-year-old Floridian managed to rebound immediately to claim Valentova's next service game.

"There is a sense of urgency after getting broken, for sure. You don't want to get too far behind. You don't want to get two breaks down. You can live with one break. But she's definitely got to serve better and do a better job of holding as the tournament progresses," said Gauff's father, Corey. "She's probably been one of the best returners of serve on the tour the last two to three months. But that's not what you want. You want to hold first, for sure. It's not really a break until you hold."

On Saturday, 2022 runner-up Gauff will face another Czech player, Marie Bouzkova, as she tries to reach the fourth round in Paris for the fifth consecutive appearance.

Other winners in the women's bracket Thursday included No. 3 Jessica Pegula, who was the runner-up at last year's US Open, Australian Open champion Madison Keys, 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva and 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, who reached the 2019 final at Roland Garros.

Vondrousova, who is unseeded this year, eliminated No. 25 Magdalena Frech 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 on Court 6 and then sat in the stands at Lenglen to watch Gauff vs. Valentova.