Gauff books fifth consecutive appearance in quarterfinals at French Open

World No. 2 Coco Gauff of the USA persevered past Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia 6-0, 7-5 in the women's singles round of 16 at the French Open at Roland-Garros in Paris on Monday.

The 2023 US Open winner raced through the opening set, backed by three breaks of serve. Alexandrova put up more of a fight in the second set, but her American opponent eventually closed out the victory in 82 minutes.

"It feels great to be back in the quarters here, and really happy with how I played today, and hopefully can keep going," Gauff said.

The 21-year-old's 15 wins on clay this season are tied for the most on the women's tour alongside Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, another player still in the running at Roland-Garros. The second seed is hoping to make it third time lucky at the French Open, after coming up short in finals in Madrid and Rome last month.

"I have learned in the last two tournaments, especially in Rome and Madrid," Gauff noted. "Losing the opening set in the first round of both of those tournaments and making the final, it just shows you have to keep fighting for every match and keep fighting for every point, because anything can happen in a tournament. So I think if I want to be more consistent on tour, I think that's something I have to continue to do."

Next up for Gauff is an all-American matchup in Wednesday's quarterfinals against seventh-seeded Madison Keys, who won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January. She eliminated compatriot Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 7-5.

After claiming the opener with ease, Keys had to battle hard after falling behind 3-1 in the second, saving two set points to keep the frame alive.

"I'm really happy with my play today," Keys said. "Hailey, I think, is a fantastic tennis player. I knew kind of going into the match that I was going to have to kind of up my level, and any opportunity that I could, just try to capitalize on it."

(With input from AFP)