Coco Gauff remained scorching on clay on Saturday throughout the third spherical of the French Open, defeating Marie Bouzkova in straight units to advance to her fifth consecutive Spherical of 16.
Gauff cruised within the first set and gained the second in a tiebreak, profitable the match 6-1, 7-6. The world’s No. 2 ladies’s tennis participant hasn’t dropped a set at this 12 months’s French Open.
Gauff entered the 12 months’s second tennis grand slam 11-3 on clay courts this season, together with her losses coming within the quarterfinals to WTA No. 4 Jasmine Paolini on the Stuttgart Open and within the finals on the Madrid Open to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and the Rome Open (Paolini).
Traditionally, Gauff has fared greatest on clay, coming into the 2025 French Open with a .732 win proportion on clay surfaces, in comparison with .698 on exhausting surfaces and .677 on grass.
She has a tricky take a look at within the Spherical of 16 in opposition to Ekaterina Alexandrova. Whereas Gauff is 3-1 all-time in opposition to Alexandrova, together with consecutive straight-set wins (2023 China Open, 2024 Berlin Open), Alexandrova has performed extraordinarily properly by means of her first three matches.
Per InfoSys, Alexandrova ranks fifth within the ladies’s singles draw at Roland-Garros in whole factors, which evaluates gamers in a number of classes, together with the variety of aces and winners, first and second serve win charge and internet, break and receiving level percentages.
Gauff is No. 11, rating first in receiving factors (61 p.c) however struggling on second serves (37 p.c), good for 93rd out of 128.
She has reached the quarterfinals on the French Open each match since 2021, together with a runner-up end in 2022. In 2024, Gauff was a semifinalist, dropping to eventual champion Iga Swiatek.
Alexandrova might make issues tough within the Spherical of 16. Nonetheless, contemplating Gauff’s clay court docket prowess, it may not be sufficient to maintain her from advancing.
