American teen sensation
Coco Gauff booked her spot to the third round of
Roland Garros, sweeping past Alison van Uytvanck in a dominant performance.
Gauff required an hour and 26 minutes to pull off the 6-1 7-6(4) victory, securing her first victory over the Belgian. Although the American dictated play in the first set, the 60th-ranked Van Uytvanck put up a sterner test in the second. However, Gauff relied on her speed and consistency to prevail.
"I'm most happy with my movement and being able to create depth and create those opportunities to get short balls," said Gauff. "I think that helped me a lot today."
Gauff is a former Junior French Open singles champion, collecting that title in 2018. Furthermore, she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in Paris last season, and is the youngest player remaining in the draw. Her run to the elite eight of last year's main draw was stopped only by eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova.
The 18th seed now has a stern third-round test against Grand Slam upset artist
Kaia Kanepi, who at 36 is twice Gauff's age. The 46th-ranked Kanepi of Estonia, who reached the French Open quarterfinals in 2008 and 2012, defeated 48th-ranked Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-4 6-4.
Gauff needed two tiebreak sets to oust Kanepi in their lone previous meeting, on the clay courts of Parma last year. Gauff went on to win that title.