It didn’t take long for Coco Gauff to secure her place in the French Open quarter-finals.
The 21-year-old beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-0, 7-5 inside 90 minutes on Monday and in the process has matched another long-standing record.
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Gauff is a strong favourite for this year’s tournamentCredit: GETTY
Gauff would have breathed a sigh of relief when she served out the second set to secure her fourth-round win.
After breezing past Alexandrova 6-0 in the first set, her 20-year-old opponent fought back in the second, to give the American a little scare.
Although, Gauff was always in charge, winning five of her nine break points while Alexandrova could only convert one of nine.
Gauff’s win has also seen her become the youngest player (21 yrs, 73 days) to reach 5+ quarter-finals in the women’s singles side at a Grand Slam event since Venus Williams did back in 2001.
“Yeah, it was tough I played well the whole match but she stepped up in the second set,” she said in her post-match interview.
“Overall I thought played great.”
“I move well on clay, I’m comfortable with sliding and moving on the surface, this is the most physical surface and I do well in that department”
The World No.2 will now face a compatriot next with Madison Keys or former roommate and outsider Hailey Baptiste awaiting her.
The 2023 US Open champion’s consistency at this tournament is also one to behold.
After losing in the second round to Martina Trevisan in her French Open debut back in 2020, she’s not suffered an early exit since.
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Ekaterina Alexandrova fought back in the second set but it wasn’t enough in the endCredit: GETTY
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Gauff is in her fifth consecutive Roland Garros quarterfinalCredit: GETTY
Gauff has reached five consecutive quarterfinals in Paris and is now the fourth youngest player to achieve such a feat.
Only older than Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf and Conchita Martinez.
It’s no surprise, it’s the courts of Roland Garros where we are seeing the very best of Gauff.
After accumulating a 13-5 record on hard courts this year, Gauff has dominated on clay.
She reached back-to-back finals in Madrid and Rome last month and her record is 15-3 since the start of the clay swing.
“When I was younger, I always thought my best surface was hard, and then I got on tour, and I thought my best surface was on clay, and then the US Open, and I was like maybe it is hard!” Gauff told Tennis Channel ahead of the tournament.
“But I don’t know, there’s something about clay that I have always felt comfortable on. I feel like this year, more than ever, I am moving the best that I have.”