Staff Reporter.
(AFP) – Coco Gauff, the youngest player left in the French Open, made the last 16 on Friday with a straight-sets win over Kaia Kanepi, the oldest woman in the tournament at 36.
Gauff, the 18-year-old 18th seed, triumphed 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round for a second successive year having enjoyed a run to the quarterfinals in 2021.
Kanepi, ranked 46, was the junior champion at Roland Garros in 2001, three years before Gauff was born.
Gauff defeated the Estonian on her way to the Parma clay court title in 2021 and goes on to face Belgium’s Elise Mertens for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Mertens reached the last 16 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Varvara Gracheva of Russia.
Kerber knocked out by Sasnovich
Angelique Kerber’s quest of completing a career Grand Slam came to an end after the 21st seed was knocked out of Paris, losing 6-4 7-6(5) to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the third round.
Sasnovich will be heading to the fourth round at the clay court major for the first time.
Fernandez ousts Bencic
US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez edged Olympic champion Belinda Bencic 7-5 3-6 7-5 after a see-saw battle to reach fourth round for the first time.
The only other time the Canadian left-hander made the second week of a major was on her run to the final at Flushing Meadows last year where she lost to fellow teenager Emma Raducanu.
The 19-year-old Fernandez, who won the girls’ title three years ago at the claycourt Grand Slam, saved two set points before winning the marathon first set in 62 minutes and had to rally from an early break down in the decider against the Swiss.
“It was an incredible fight,” the 17th seed, who faces American Amanda Anisimova for a last-eight spot, told reporters.
“I think today I was just trusting my game when it mattered the most, and I’m just glad that I was able to trust it enough for me to keep going and keep executing the game plan.”
The 14th-seeded Bencic, who won the women’s singles gold in Tokyo, hit more winners and committed fewer unforced errors than her opponent in the opening match on Court Philippe Chatrier.
But Fernandez raised her level when it mattered most and, after breaking serve in the 11th game of the decider, held her serve to love to seal the contest in two hours 49 minutes.
The Canadian managed to win a WTA 250 title in Monterrey, Mexico, at the beginning of March but her ride since making the US Open final has been rocked and marked by numerous defeats.
“I have lost a lot of matches to get here,” she said. “So I think every match, what’s good about my team and I, we were able to use it as a learning experience to see where I can improve and what I’m doing good too.
“It’s just the ability to keep learning from every match that we have that helps put me in a position where I can say that I’ll just need to trust my game and just fight for every point.”
Anisimova receives walkover
Amanda Anisimova booked her place in the fourth round after opponent Karolina Muchova retired at 6-7(7) 6-2 3-0 in the third set following an ankle injury.