Gauff cruises past Schmiedlova at Roland Garros

The American booked a spot in the Roland Garros (French Open) quarter-final after beating Schmiedlova 7-5 6-2 with a pretty strong performance overall.

Gauff didn't start off well at this event but she slowly started to pick up form getting more and more confident with every match. This was a really good matchup for her because Schmiedlova plays very aggressively and that type of play is generally prone to more errors. With Gauff able to track down many balls and sent them back over the net, it was always going to be a very tricky matchup for her.

Still, it was far from perfect as the Slovakian managed to play really well at times. Gauff was up 5-2 after a great start but then we saw her drop her level and allow her opponent to make it 5-5. Still, she managed to win the opening set 7-5 by virtue of having a couple of more winners compared to Schmiedlova.

The second set opened with players trading breaks as Schmiedlova managed to make it interesting. It didn't last long as her errors kept piling up with the second set seeing her finish with 14 unforced errors. It was for more than Gauff and she also less winners in the set. After that wonky start, Gauff simply pulled away winning four games in a row to finish things off 6-2.

A really solid performance from the American who is now in the quarter-final ever closer to matching her performance last year that included her going to the final and losing to Iga Swiatek. Her next opponent though will be either Swiatek or Tsurenko and that should be a fun rematch for Gauff after last year. She's generally been trashed any time she played Swiatek so that's a proper challenge for the American.