Gauff bests Alexandrova, makes fifth straight Roland Garros quarterfinal
No. 2 seed Coco Gauff held off a determined fightback attempt by No. 20 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova to advance to her fifth consecutive Roland Garros quarterfinal 6-0, 7-5 in 1 hour and 22 minutes.
The 21-year-old is the fourth-youngest player in the Open Era to achieve that feat, following 20-year-old Martina Hingis (1997-2001), 20-year-old Stefanie Graf (1986-1990) and 21-year-old Conchita Martínez (1989-1993). Gauff lost in the second round to Martina Trevisan on her main-draw debut in 2020, but has made at least the last eight in Paris every year since -- including a run to her first Grand Slam final in 2022.
Gauff advances to her ninth major quarterfinal overall. Having compiled a 13-5 record on hard courts through the first three months of 2025, she has continued to find her groove on clay, where she is now 15-3 and counting this season after making back-to-back finals in Madrid and Rome. Gauff will bid to reach her fifth Grand Slam semifinal against either No. 7 seed Madison Keys or Hailey Baptiste.
A tale of two sets: After a one-sided opener, Alexandrova upped her level in a highly competitive second set, pegging Gauff back from a break down. But the American was more solid at its conclusion, reeling off 12 of the last 16 points of the match.
"She stepped up her game in the second," Gauff said in her on-court interview. "Some balls I hit a good shot and she would hit a winner on the line. If she wins like that I can keep my head up high, so overall I thought I played great."
Alexandrova was undone by 15 unforced errors to only three winners in the first set. The 30-year-old won just five points in the first five games of the match, though Gauff had to navigate seven deuces in the sixth before converting her third set point.
In the second, however, Alexandrova committed to hanging with Gauff in longer exchanges while staying on the front foot, resulting in several superb line-to-line rallies. Gauff's ability to find winning shots on the run still gave her the edge, and despite her forehand showing signs of wobbling -- she had to save the first two break points of the set in the fourth game -- a pair of backhand winners garnered her the first break for 4-3.
Alexandrova found a series of spectacular forehands in the next two games to hit back, but leading 5-4 she failed to take advantage of two Gauff double faults. The errors of the first set returned, and Gauff eased through the home stretch.
Gauff now holds a 4-1 head-to-head lead against Alexandrova. This was their first clay-court meeting.