Sixth-seeded Coco Gauff won in straight sets while top seed Iga Swiatek advanced when her opponent retired Monday in the fourth round of the French Open in Paris.
Gauff and Swiatek have a date in the quarterfinals, a rematch of last year’s finale at Roland Garros.
Gauff cruised past Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5, 6-2 in 91 minutes to advance to her second straight appearance in the French quarters and third overall in a grand slam event.
Swiatek was leading Lesia Tsurenko 5-1 in the first set when the Ukrainian was forced to retire with an injury.
In the day’s other action, No. 7 Ons Jabeur easily won in straight sets while Beatriz Haddad Maia needed nearly four hours to oust Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Gauff overcame seven double faults among 22 unforced errors while breaking Schmiedlova six of 10 times to advance.
“Today was honestly a difficult match,” Gauff said. “The wind was something that I wasn’t really that prepared for it going in. The one side was gusting like really crazy. Usually, I like to play in the wind, to be honest, but it wasn’t something I was prepared for. Overall, I’m happy with how I played.”
Gauff has now won her past 37 matches against players ranked outside of the Top 50. Schmiedlova is ranked No. 100 in the world.
“The ideal would be to treat every match the same, no matter the ranking,” Gauff said. “Obviously I do think in the back of your head it does come into play where you’re playing someone No. 1 compared to somebody in the No. 100 range. You can’t treat the ranking as a ranking.”
Swiatek is 6-0 lifetime vs. Gauff, all in straight sets.
Haddad Maia becomes the first Brazilian in the French quarters since 1968, but she had to work hard to get there. Haddad Maia beat Sorribes Tormo of Spain 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5 in three hours and 51 minutes, the longest women’s match of the year and the 10th longest in the Open era.
Ten games advanced to at least one deuce, and 79 games featured rallies of nine shots or more.
“I think I work very hard my body, as well, so I believe in myself when we have tough moments,” Haddad Maia said. “I had a lot of matches more than three hours in my career also. Yeah, as long as the match goes, I think I’m stronger. So yeah, I think it’s one of my qualities.”
Jabeur, of Tunisia, made quick work of Bernarda Pera, winning 6-3, 6-1 in 63 minutes.
Jabeur will meet Haddad Maia in the quarters.
–Field Level Media
