Coco Gauff kept her French Open title defence on track after beating Egypt’s Mayar Sherif 6-3, 6-2 in the second round at Roland Garros.
The American fourth seed overcame a stubborn challenge from qualifier Sherif to seal a 6-3, 6-2 win on Court Suzanne Lenglen and book her place in the third round once again.
Although the scoreline looked comfortable, Gauff was forced to work hard throughout a contest dominated by long rallies and repeated breaks of serve. The defending champion admitted afterwards that patience was the key to getting through the match.
“It was a physical match, a tough match, my patience was really tested today,” Gauff said afterwards.
The 22-year-old was not at her sharpest level, but she remained in control for most of the encounter and never looked in serious danger against the world number 129. Gauff broke Sherif’s serve seven times during the one-hour, 50-minute battle as the Egyptian struggled to cope with the American’s movement and power from the baseline.
Gauff has now reached at least the quarter-finals in Paris in each of the last five years and continues to look comfortable on the clay courts where she lifted the trophy last season.
Despite arriving in Paris as one of the favourites, the American insisted she is trying not to place extra pressure on herself during her title defence.
“No expectations,” Gauff said when asked whether winning the tournament last year had changed her mindset. “I’m just having fun.”
For Sherif, the defeat extended a frustrating run at Grand Slam level. The Egyptian has still never progressed beyond the second round at a major tournament and has now fallen at that stage in Paris four times in the past five years.
