Overview of the sixth day of Roland-Garros
While one top American qualified, another fell in the third round of the 2023 French Open.
Coco Gauff, seeded No. 6, advanced to the fourth round after winning the last two sets of a three-set match against unseeded 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva. Gauff, who is only 19 herself, lost the opening set on a tight tiebreaker but sailed through the bottom two to take the win, 6(5)-7(7), 6-1 , 6-1. Gauff reached the French Open 2022 final where she lost to Iga Świątek.
Gauff praised young Andreeva, who was making the first Grand Slam appearance of her career.
“Mirra is super young and there’s a great future for her,” Gauff said. “I remember I was playing here when I was 16. She has a lot to look forward to. Hopefully you will see a lot more games between the two of us.
Taylor Fritz, the No. 9 seed, hasn’t fared so well. After a first-set victory over Argentinian Francisco Cerúndolo, No. 23, Fritz, the ATP world No. 8 player, lost the last three sets to lose in five sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. Fritz has never made it past the third round of Roland-Garros and has only made it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam once.
How other Americans fared
Kayla Day lost to Slovakian Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.
Marcos Giron lost in four sets to Nicolás Jarry of Chile, 2-6, 3-6, 7(9)-6(7), 3-6.
Bernarda Pera defeated Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto in straight sets, 6-4, 7(7)-6(2).
Rybakina withdraws
The seventh day of Roland-Garros opened with a sad end for Elena Rybakina at Roland-Garros. The 2023 Australian Open runner-up and 2022 Wimbledon champion has withdrawn from her third-round match with Sara Sorribes Tormo after saying she caught a cold in Paris.
“I already didn’t feel well yesterday and the day before, so I didn’t sleep for two nights and had a fever,” she said. “I really tried in the warm-up, but I think the right decision is to retire, because it’s really difficult to play in these conditions.”
Rybakina, the No. 4 seed, was on an eight-game winning streak before retiring from competition.
Świątek sails to victory
No surprise here, but Iga Świątek, the No. 1 seed in the women’s squad, advanced to the fourth round after a 6-0, 6-0 win over China’s Wang Xinyu. The match only lasted 51 minutes.
Ruud defeats Zhang
The No. 4 seed from Norway lost her opening set to Zhang Zhizhen from China, but Ruud found his rhythm to win the last three sets and advance to the fourth round in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, Win 6-4. Ruud qualified for the French Open final last year before losing to Rafael Nadal.
Etcheverry upsets Ćoric
Unseeded Tomás Martín Etcheverry beat No. 15 Croatian Borna Ćorić in three sets, 6-3, 7(7)-6(5), 6-2. The 23-year-old Argentine has never made it past the second round of a Grand Slam, and now Etcheverry will face No. 27 Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan.
Other notable results
Nishioka defeated Thiago Seyboth Wild in five sets after winning the last two sets. Nishioka lost the first set, came close to losing the second set and lost the third set before rallying to take the win, 3-6, 7(10)-6(8), 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.
The No. 6 Rune holder defeated Genaro Alberto Olivieri in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3. The 20-year-old Dane has qualified for the quarter-finals of the French Open 2022 and the fourth round of the Australian Open 2023.
No. 14 Beatriz Haddad Maia returned after a first-set loss to No. 23 Ekaterina Alexandrova, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.