Roland-Garros: Andreescu loses, Coco Gauff wins

America’s Coco Gauff came from behind after a tough first set and knocked out Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in a duel between two teenage girls in the third round of the French Open women’s singles on Saturday.

Experience finally had the last word as 19-year-old Gauff, who was a finalist at Roland-Garros last year, recorded a 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-1 victory, punctuated by a winner’s loss in match point -Crossover.

The result ended an impressive first Grand Slam effort for the 16-year-old Russian. Earlier this week, Andreeva became the youngest player since 2005 to win a women’s singles main round match at the French Open.

Shortly after Gauff’s win, favorite and defending champion Iga Swiatek also secured her ticket to the fourth round with a quick 6-0, 6-0 win in 51 minutes over China’s Xinyu Wang.

In three games so far at Roland-Garros, Swiatek has conceded just eight games and won 19 games in a row.

In the round of 16, Swiatek meets the Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko, who easily defeated the Canadian Bianca Andreescu in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 on Saturday.

In a game that lasted just 62 minutes, the Canadian suffered a crushing 6-1, 6-1 loss to the Ukrainian.

This setback spelled the death knell for Canadian singles representation at Roland-Garros, both male and female.

On Friday, Denis Shapovalov was also eliminated by world number one Carlos Alcaraz without winning a single round.

Faced with a rival aged 34 and owner 66e Andreescu was better than him in the WTA rankings on every count except first serve success rate (64 percent vs. 49 percent).

Still, Andreescu won just 38 percent of points after placing her first ball of the game, compared to 63 percent for the Ukrainian. Throughout the game, Andreescu only won 16 out of 45 points on serve, which translates to a save percent of 36 percent.

Andreescu committed 22 unforced errors and three double faults in total, compared to six game winners and no ace. She had six break points in seven service games and saved none of them.

Perhaps a sign of the fate that awaited him as Andreescu lost the game’s opening game on serve, conceding four points in a row after taking a 40-15 lead.

Four games later, back on her serve, the Canadian created a 40-0 cushion before losing the next five points and the game, giving Tsurenko a 4-1 lead in the first set.

Andreescu gave his supporters hope by breaking Tsurenko’s serve early in the second set. However, the Ukrainian gave her back in the next game, adding breaks in the fourth and sixth games of the set.

Rybakina package

Kazakh Elena Rybakina, reigning Wimbledon champion, has withdrawn from the tournament due to illness ahead of her third round match on Saturday.

“I just wanted to give 100 percent, but obviously I’m far from 100 percent,” said Rybakina.

“If I can’t breathe, I can’t even run and try to wrestle. »

Rybakina, fourth seeded in women’s singles in Paris, was scheduled to face Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, ranked 132 in the world, in the opening game of the day on the pitch of the Philippe Chatrier Stadium.

The duel was supposed to start at 11:45 CET but instead Rybakina sat behind a microphone during a press conference to explain why she withdrew from the second of four Grand Slam tournaments of the season.

Speaking as if overworked, Rybakina said she had a fever, hadn’t slept well for the past two nights and had trouble breathing during the warm-up on Saturday before her game. She added a doctor told her there was a virus circulating “here in Paris.”

Rybakina’s retirement sees 26-year-old Sorribes Tormo advance to the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career.

Ruud and Rune in the fourth round

Norway’s Casper Ruud, a finalist at Roland-Garros against Rafael Nadal in Paris last year, defeated China’s Zhang Zhizhen from behind 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-4 in a third-round clash, the was held on the pitch of the Suzanne Lenglen Stadium.

“I’m happy to have survived the first three games. It’s tough. The pressure is certainly much greater this year than last year,” said Ruud.

“Last year, the Norwegian added, I was able to do my job in the shade. This year the eyes are a little more on me. […] I feel like the pressure is a bit different this year. »

Zhang broke serve in the opening game to win the first set, frustrating his fourth-seeded rival.

Things didn’t seem to get any better for Ruud as he was 0:40 down on serve early in the second set. However, the Norwegian regained his composure and was able to win the second heat.

In the next two sets he increased his game and ended the duel with a forehand parallel to his first match point.

In the next round, Ruud meets Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who also defeated American Marcos Giron in four sets.

Things were a little less complicated for sixth-seeded Denmark’s Holger Rune, who defeated Argentina’s Genaro Alberto Olivieri, a qualifier ranked at No. 231 in the world, in three sets 6-4 6-1 6-3.

In the round of 16, Rune meets 23-year-old Argentinian Francisco Cerundoloe seeded, defeating ninth-seeded American Taylor Fritz in four sets 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-5.

At the end of the day, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, No. 28, defeated Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.

To see in the video

Darren Pena

Avid beer trailblazer. Friendly student. Tv geek. Coffee junkie. Total writer. Hipster-friendly internet practitioner. Pop culture fanatic.

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