ROLAND-GARROS
17 May - 6 June 2027
Two down, five to go. Coco Gauff’s Roland-Garros title defence remains on track.
The world No.4 conjured up some elite shotmaking to dispatch Egyptian qualifier Mayar Sherif 6-3, 6-2 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
Gauff gains momentum with Sherif triumph
American superstar has reached the quarterfinals or better in her past five trips to Paris
The straight-sets scoreboard earned a 23rd successive victory against players ranked outside the top 100, and Coco had been content to battle it out.
“It was a physical match, tough match, my patience was really tested today," she said after defeating the world No.129. "Mayar is a great player, she makes you compete for every point.
“I’ve got to work on getting the rhythm back, but I’m really happy with how I played. Shout out to my team, I think I hit so many points up here (shoulder height), hopefully my arms look pretty muscular, because it took a lot of strength to hit those balls.”
Gauff, a runner-up in Rome ahead of arriving in Paris, motored through to meet either No.28 seed Anastasia Potapova or Great Britain’s Katie Boulter in the third round.
Although the two-time major winner is not looking too far ahead or entertaining any notion of pressure as she continues to pursue her title defence.
“No expectations, I’m just having fun,” the 22-year-old insisted. “I just have to keep on enjoying this journey, to focus on the process and not the results.”
In playing terms, Gauff has ruled Paris as a girls’ champion (2018), women’s doubles winner (2024) and of course, the singles champion last June. In another French twist, Gauff has a French coach, French physical trainer and French sparring partner.
“I’m an adopted Frenchwoman,” she claimed. "I’ve been coming to Paris since I was 10-years-old, I’m very familiar with the culture. Paris is my favourite city, I love to compete here and I hope I can keep going.”
Gauff launched on to the global scene in her mid teens and made sure she tuned in for French prodigy Moise Kouame's rollercoaster second round. If you missed it, the 17-year-old wild card edged a five-set thriller earlier on Thursday.
“I think people don't realise how crazy what he did today is, playing the first five-setter under a French crowd, up two sets to love, and most people, most players, when they lose that lead, can kind of collapse,” Gauff said.
“He kept fighting and I think this kid, this guy, is going to be a big talent, and he seems like he has a good family around him.
“I don't know him really too well personally, but I was rooting for him. Obviously, I told him after the match, I was, like, ‘Bro, I wish it was three sets, because I'm here way past what I thought I was supposed to be.’
“I'm glad that he won and I'm going to be a fan for him probably for his whole career, for sure.”