Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula led an American march into the fourth round in Paris at the French Open on Saturday.
The second-seeded Gauff defeated Czech Marie Bouzkova 6-1, 7-6 (3) while the third-seeded Pegula rallied to oust former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 on the clay courts of Roland Garros.
Madison Keys, the No. 7 seed, survived three match points to beat fellow American Sofia Kenin, the No. 31 seed, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Hailey Baptiste defeated Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in straight sets, and Maneiro’s fellow Spaniard, No. 10 seed Paula Badosa, was upset by No. 17 Daria Kasatkina of Australia 6-1, 7-5.
No. 6 Mirra Andreeva of Russia cruised through her match with the No. 32 seed, Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-1. Andreeva will meet Kasatkina in the fourth round, while Keys and Baptiste will square off.
Bouzkova had her chances to extend the match against Gauff. Down 5-3 in the second set with Bouzkova two points from winning the set, Gauff fought back to break serve, then eventually advance to the tie-breaker. It was a sloppy second set for both women, each broken on serve four times.
Gauff hit double the number of winners, 32 compared to 16 for her opponent, in the two sets.
“She was playing well, putting a lot of balls back in the court (in the second set),” Gauff said. “It was difficult but overall happy I how I was able to stay in that.
“In the first set I was playing good. In the second I missed some balls. She put a lot of balls back. Every opponent that plays her struggles with that.”
Gauff next will face No. 20 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, a 6-2, 5-2 victor over fellow Russian Veronika Kudermetova.
Pegula, for her part, survived a shaky first set before kicking her game into another gear. She was unable to muster a break point against Vondrousova in the first set, but in the second, Pegula broke the Russian in three consecutive games.
The American had six aces, while Vondrousova double faulted six times on the day.
Pegula was relieved to get through the match.
“Obviously had some chances in the first, but sometimes you can’t quite get the break,” Pegula said post-match. “You’re so close, so close. … I think when I finally broke her I kind of freed up a little bit. I thought I was playing her the right way the first set, I just needed to be a tad more aggressive. And then there were times in the third where maybe I was a little too aggressive, coming in on awkward shots. Playing her, that’s why’s it’s so hard — it’s like a really fine line, especially on clay.”
In the fourth round, Pegula will play Lois Boisson of France, a 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 winner over her compatriot, wild card Elsa Jacquemot.
–Field Level Media
