Gauff survives 2nd set to advance at French Open

PARIS -- Coco Gauff got off to a terrific start in the French Open's third round Saturday, taking 12 of the first 15 points for a 3-0 lead after just 10 minutes. The rest of the opening set went smoothly, too.

Things got much tougher from there, though, and the 2023 US Open champion was merely two points from dropping the second set before getting back in the right direction and defeating Marie Bouzkova 6-1, 7-6 (3) to reach Week 2 at Roland-Garros for the fifth consecutive year.

"Obviously," Gauff said, "I can do some things better."

Gauff, a 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 Monday against No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova, with the winner moving into the quarterfinals.

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 ahead of the Champions League final against Italy's Inter Milan taking place in Munich later Saturday night.

"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."

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.

There were three U.S. men still in the bracket heading into Sunday.

Keys, who won the Australian Open in January, 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. Keys will now play 70th-ranked Baptiste.

Anisimova meets No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka for a spot in the quarterfinals, and Pegula -- last year's US Open runner-up -- faces French wild-card entry Lois Boisson.