Third seed Coco Gauff wasted little time in brushing aside world number 208 Julia Avdeeva (6-1 6-1) in her first round at Roland Garros.
The 2023 US Open winner needed just more than 50 minutes to sail past the 21-year-old Russian with the game having to be briefly halted after Avdeeva accidentally bumped her head against the umpire’s when she was contesting a point.
“Today was kind of a straightforward match. I didn’t have to do much. I wouldn’t say I played amazing. I just had to play solid today. That’s what I did,” Gauff told reporters.
Adveea was making her Grand Slam debut in Paris and Gauff said she sensed her opponent’s stress on the second showcourt.
“I do think she was a little bit nervous with the bigger court, but I played well too,” Gauff said.
Gauff’s second round opponent
Gauff will now face Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek in the second round after Zidansek beat Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck 6-2 2-6 6-1 on Sunday.
The game is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday (29 May) with the time and court yet to be confirmed with Gauff stating: “She’s (Zidansek) is definitely a fighter. I think she has, you know, good ball tolerance, she can make a lot of balls in the court, pretty good mover. So it’s going to be a tough match,” Gauff said.
