Gauff vs Bouzkova: Things we learned

Though there would be a prolonged mid-match hiccup, Gauff finished her 23rd career Roland-Garros victory that way as well.

Scroll down for four things we learned from her performance.

Many happy returns

Something special is going on with Gauff’s return in Paris. She is breaking serve at a remarkable clip through three rounds. The world No.2 chipped in another six breaks of serve on Saturday, making it 20 service breaks in 26 return games for the tournament. 

Gauff leads all women in that category by far.

The Florida native needed the return on Saturday, particularly in the second set, when she found herself having difficulties holding serve. During a treacherous span that saw eight consecutive service breaks recorded, she relied on her tenacity and never let Bouzkova expand her lead.

Gauff attacked the Czech’s serve in a variety of ways.  She was resilient. She was relentless. She used the forehand, producing penetrating depth against the second serve. She used the backhand, taking it down the line as a surprise tactic.

Even down 40-love, as she was with Bouzkova serving at 2-0 in the second, Gauff kept plugging away. She won an impressive 73 percent of second serve return points, and claimed 43 of 76 return points in total.

The hotter the better?

Temperatures hovering around 30 degrees beneath a bright, blazing sun in Paris? No problem for the American, who grew up in South Florida and loves playing in the heat.

With the hot conditions making for fast-playing clay, Gauff really leaned into her first serve and her backhand in the opening set, which caused Bouzkova to beat a retreat well behind her baseline. As the sun dipped behind the clouds in the beginning of the second set, conditions changed and rallies became extended. 

Today’s clash was a tale of two sets – and two Cocos – in many ways. 

Queen of consistency?

Gauff’s performance in the second set was up and down, to say the least. She only managed to win four of 13 second-serve points in set two and was broken four times in her six service games.

She also committed 24 unforced errors in set two, compared to just four in the first. 

But her body of work across the Grand Slams in general? Laudable. 

With today’s victory Gauff became the youngest American woman to reach the second week at the Grand Slams seven consecutive times since Venus Williams reached nine on the trot between the US Open in 1997 and 1999. 

Gauff also improved to 23-5 lifetime at Roland-Garros. She has won more main draw matches on the Parisian clay than at any other grand slam venue, and enters the round of 16 for a fifth consecutive year.

From freefall to turbo boost

Across the aforementioned stretch of eight consecutive service breaks in the second set, Gauff appeared to have lost the plot. She was erratic and tense, unable to match Bouzkova’s focus and consistency for a spell. 

But when the pressure peaked, Gauff centered herself and found her most sublime tennis of the day to finish off the win. With Bouzkova serving for the set at 5-3, 30-0, the American pulled out of her nose dive and dialled in tremendous focus to avoid having to play a deciding set. 

Suddenly Gauff’s shots were falling again, and her forehand recovered its zip. She broke to stay alive in the set, took new balls to serve and produced an emphatic love hold to level at five-all. 

Now fully engaged, Gauff produced another love hold to force a second set tiebreak, then delivered the defensive gem of the match in the first point of the tiebreaker.

She was off to the races from there...

Gauff will face Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round.