For the second straight year, Coco Gauff is through to the quarterfinals of the French Open after a 7-5, 6-2 win over Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Monday in Paris.
The American No.6 seed had won her last 36 matches against players outside the Top 50, including three wins so far in Paris, entering Monday's tilt against No.100 Schmiedlova on Court Philippe-Chatrier, and extended that unbeaten run with a 1 hour, 31-minute triumph in windy conditions.
"The ideal would be to treat every match the same, no matter the ranking," Gauff said afterwards. "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.
"She beat the seeds on her draw, her side of the draw, so you can't approach it like that. But I do think from a mental standpoint it's slightly different.
"Today was honestly a difficult match. I mean, as every match is. But 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 moves through to her third career Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she will face World No.1 Iga Swiatek in a rematch of last year's final.
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How the match was won: The American raced out of the gates quickly to lead 5-2 in the opener, but needed a stretch of additional games to wrap up a one-set lead.
After having a set point in the seventh game Gauff lost three in a row, but rebounded in the closing moments from 5-5, 30-30 on the Schmiedlova serve to win the last six points.
She also won the last five games of the match, improving her head-to-head record against Schmiedlova to 2-0.
With emphasis!@CocoGauff sews up the first set 7-5!#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/dldgwxKgkr
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2023
Looking ahead: Gauff has never won a set in six career matches against Swiatek. While she said her mind hasn't lingered on the thought of last year's final much, it's going to be a match she'll watch again in the next 24 hours for tactics.
"I guess obviously from a scouting standpoint, I have to rewatch that match because I don't think I've played her on clay since, I've played her on other surfaces," Gauff said. "I don't know if the surface will matter that much. So I will rewatch some previous matches to see where I've gone wrong.
"Honestly, since last year I have been wanting to play her especially at this tournament. I figured that it was going to happen, because I figured I was going to do well and she was going to do well. Didn't know what side of the draw we were going to be on obviously. ... I think it would be a great battle for us and for the fans, too."