Four Americans, one French dreamer: Previewing Monday’s Round of 16 at Roland Garros

Monday features four Round of 16 matches from the bottom section of the draw -- half of the slots occupied by Americans: Three Top 10 players from the United States, all seeded to reach the quarterfinals, plus surprising Hailey Baptiste, who’s never been this far in a Grand Slam.

There’s also 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva, trying to get back to the semifinals and a French wild card playing in her very first major main draw.

We break it down:

No. 2 Coco Gauff vs. No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova

Head-to-head: 3-1, Gauff, the most recent a 7-6(6), 6-2 win on the grass in Berlin last June.

Gauff, a 6-1, 7-6(3) winner over Marie Bouzkova, did not play her best tennis. It was her astonishing speed and anticipation that carried her, particularly in a dodgy second set that took nearly three times longer than the first.

Gauff’s serve was broken four times and she had four double faults -- things she’ll have to clean up against the more consistent Alexandrova. Gauff likes these courts and was a Roland Garros finalist three years ago. With 23 main-draw wins, it’s the tournament where she’s been most successful.

With longer rallies, her fitness comes more into play.

“I remember there was a point in the second, and [Bouzkova] ended up winning the point,” Gauff said. “I looked over, and I saw she was kind of bent over and tired. I was aware that my heartbeat wasn’t really high at all. It felt fine.

“And I know that's her game style. So yeah, I did feel, like, ‘OK, I can do this, too.’ I definitely feel more confidence when people resort to that, just because of the fact that I feel physically there is very few players on tour who can hang in there with me.”

Alexandrova defeated Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round here for the first time. With a win, she’d equal her best major result, achieved two years ago at Wimbledon.

No. 3 Jessica Pegula vs. wild card Lois Boisson

Head-to-head: 0-0.

After Pegula came back to defeat Marketa Vondrousova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, she met the press still unsure who she’d play in the fourth round.

“Sorry, I’m checking to see who won -- keep going [with questions],” Pegula said, looking at her phone. “Boisson won, 7-5. That was crazy. I was watching the end of it.”

Indeed, Boisson -- ranked No. 138 -- was a 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 winner over fellow French wild card Elsa Jacquemot and remains the longest of shots in this French Open. She’ll have the support of the French crowd on a huge stage.

“I’m pretty good at kind of zoning out,” Pegula said. “I have played in some pretty rowdy crowds. I think it will be fun. It will be cool to be a part of that. Even though they’re not for me, it will still be fun.”

Making sixth appearance at Roland Garros, Pegula is one win away from equaling her best result here, the quarterfinals in 2022. She has won all 10 of her matches at this event against unseeded opponents.

Boisson, meanwhile, is living the dream. The 22-year-old played her first Hologic WTA Tour main draw last month in Rouen and this is her first Grand Slam. The last French woman to reach the Round of 16 at Roland Garros was Pauline Parmentier in 2014.

“I’ll go onto the court and have a fantastic moment,” Boisson said. “I think there’s going to be a wonderful atmosphere, and I’m very happy to be playing against her.”

No. 6 Mirra Andreeva vs. No. 17 Daria Kasatkina

Head-to-head: 1-0, Kasatkina, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 in the final at last fall’s WTA 500 in Ningbo, China.

Andreeva has been playing like someone with early dinner reservations. She’s dropped only 18 games in three matches and been on court for less than four hours. To reach the second week, Andreeva was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Yulia Putintseva.

At the age of 18, she’s the youngest left in this tournament -- as usual. She’s the youngest woman to accumulate 10 match wins at Roland Garros since 16-year-old Martina Hingis in 1997. And the youngest to reach the fourth round in back-to-back years since Anna Kournikova in 1999.

She and Kasatkina have become friends and actually practiced with her before the tournament in Paris. Andreeva has been a guest on Kasatkina and Natalia Zabiiako’s YouTube vlog.

“Mirra, she’s a very nice girl and an amazing player,” Kasatkina told reporters. “We practiced so many times, and we're going to play second match of our career. It’s going to be long rallies. Mirra, she’s not giving anything for free. 

“To get every point, I'll have to die on court. I’m ready for that.”

Kasatkina defeated No. 10 Paula Badosa 6-1, 7-5.

“It’s going to be an entertaining match, for sure, because I think we both know each other very well,” Andreeva said. “I think that it's going to be fun and also maybe pretty tight. We’re going to see.”

No. 7 Madison Keys vs. Hailey Baptiste

Head-to-head: 2-1, Keys, winning their past two matches, two years ago in Charleston and last year at Indian Wells, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4). Baptiste’s first big win in her career -- 7-6 (4), 6-2 -- came against the second-seeded Keys on home turf in Washington, D.C.’s Citi Open in 2019

After Boisson at No. 138, Baptiste (No. 70) is the next lowest-ranked player left in the tournament. Baptiste defeated Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-6 (4), 6-1.

That breakthrough win five years ago as a teenager should sustain Baptiste as she steps in against the reigning Australian Open champion.

“It was my first WTA match,” Baptiste said. “I think I had a lot of nerves and a lot of excitement, and I was obviously playing somebody that I looked up to. I was just loose, having fun. That’s kind of the same thing that I’m going to do.”

Keys was a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 winner over fellow American Sofia Kenin, saving three match points and notching her 10^th consecutive Grand Slam match-win. She’s one of six players in the Open Era to begin her season that way at the age of 29 or more, joining Margaret Court (1973), Virginia Wade (1977), Chris Evert (1985 and 1986), Martina Navratilova (1990) and Serena Williams (2015).

“I think it’s going to be a really tough match,” Keys said. “She’s very talented. She has a lot of tangibles, and she knows how to kind of mix up paces, but can also, all of a sudden, absolutely crack the ball.”