Gauff gains momentum from Valentova tussle

On one side was No.2 seed Coco Gauff, who collected the Roland-Garros 2018 girls’ singles title. Over the net stood Czech teenager Tereza Valentova, who was the girls’ champion in Paris 12 months ago.

Gauff has shown junior Slam winners how to use their triumphs as a launchpad towards the very peak of the sport. The American was runner-up on Court Philippe-Chatrier in 2022 and tasted Grand Slam glory at US Open 2023.

Was it time for Valentova to make a major statement?

Story of the match

The Court Suzanne-Lenglen crowd were treated to the purest ball striking as Gauff posted a rapid 2-0 lead.

Marie Bouzkova, the third-round opponent for the victor, entered the stands to catch a glimpse and would have been impressed by her fellow Czech blasting a forehand down the line to break back.

There was a captivating rally with a lob and drop shot from each player; this was a high calibre contest. Gauff locked in on return at 3-2 and her weight of shot secured the advantage.

The American, who warmed up for Roland-Garros with final runs in Madrid and Rome, sprinted left and catapulted a backhand pass to cap a fine opener.

Valentova, on debut at Roland-Garros having powered through qualifying, was able to keep Gauff uncomfortable on service games as they exchanged a series of breaks.

The Czech battled valiantly and prevented Gauff serving out the win at 5-3, proving the teenager has plenty of promise in Paris and beyond. However, Gauff once again showed her Slam credentials on the grandest of stages.

Key stats

Gauff is the youngest player (21) to reach the Roland-Garros singles third round for five consecutive years (2021-25) since Maria Sharapova (2004-08).

She has now won nine of her 11 Grand Slam meetings against qualifiers.

The world No.2 will want to bolster her serving numbers against Bouzkova. Even though she landed 70 per cent of first serves, Gauff only won 19 per cent of second serve points and was broken five times during the straight sets victory.

Coco's assessment

On her straight sets victory: “I think overall it was fine, I think towards the end of the second set I could have been much more aggressive on the serve. The return game was pretty good.

“She’s obviously a great young player, I knew it was going to be a tough match today.

“Definitely going to practise (tomorrow) and work on things I feel I could have done a lot better today.”

On the long wait during the Arthur Fils match: “It was weird because Arthur won the first two sets, they were still really long. I took a nap and honestly was just on TikTok the whole time and watching the match.

“Obviously I was rooting for Arthur, so I was like ‘Come on man, finish it!’ It ended up being five sets, but it’s ok, we both got the win today and that’s all that matters.”