French Open: Coco Gauff battles back to beat Mirra Andreeva in ...

Sixth seed Coco Gauff is into the fourth round at the French Open after battling back from a set down to beat Mirra Andreeva 6-7(5) 6-1 6-1 on Saturday.

Andreeva has stunned Roland-Garros with the way she has taken to Grand Slam tennis and she took the battle to Gauff, as both players exchanged multiple breaks in the opening set.

Gauff emerged as a 15-year-old and she is still only 19, but this was a rare chance for the promising American to come up against a younger opponent.

Andreeva is 16 years old and ranked No. 143 in the world. However, she was a junior finalist in this year’s Australian Open so there is plenty of evidence to suggest that she has potential to handle herself on the full WTA tour.

Gauff is ranked No. 6 in the world and a finalist at Roland-Garros last year, so is looking to go one further this year for her first Grand Slam win.

She has an Auckland Classic win under her belt this year, but her promising form did not stop the younger player moving ahead, but Gauff was able to battle back to 4-4.

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The set was evenly balanced for almost all of its 61 minutes before the Russian took the tie-break 7-5.

However, Gauff held up under pressure and moved 4-1 clear in the second set as she looked to take the match the distance, and a leaping crosscourt backhand, taken on the rise, demonstrated her growing confidence to take her to 20 winners.

Gauff broke early in the third set to go 3-1 up, and she was willing to attack the net to keep up her momentum and pressure, and delivered another wonderful crosscourt effort at match point to secure her 22nd victory of the season, and her sixth on clay, to make the fourth round for the third successive year.

Speaking on court after the match, Gauff said: “Mirra is super young with a big future. I remember playing here at 16. She has a lot to look forward to and you’ll see many matches between the two of us. I had chances in the first set, serving for it and trading breaks. I got undisciplined in the tie-break, but overall, I knew the game plan and tried to execute that in the second and third sets."

She discussed the challenges her opponent faces as a young player on the circuit, noting: “For me, most of the first part [of my career], I was playing people for the first time a lot. I’m used to it. We practised together this week, so I’m sure she picked up some of my tendencies, as I did. I don’t know if it made a difference, but it’s all about adjustment, that’s tennis.

“We played a practice match, playing well. I was impressed with her level, and she belongs to be where she is. She deserves to go even further.

“I was happy with the crowd today. I wasn’t sure if [they’d] be cheering for me today. They usually do, but I know Mirra has a lot of fans. I was impressed that it was 50/50, and that makes the match more enjoyable to play.”

The winner will face Kayla Day or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the fourth round.

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