Preview and Schedule WTA Roland Garros 2025 Day Nine: Coco Gauff leads American charge as Andreeva clashes with Kasatkina

The French Open organization has unveiled the Day Nine Schedule, marking the close of the Roland Garros fourth round with an eye towards the quarterfinals. Our Preview examines the matchups that will ignite the women's draw, with Mirra Andreeva and Coco Gauff as the main attractions.

Four American players will attempt to secure their spots in the quarterfinals, with four of the top eight seeds still in contention. Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula face matches as heavy favorites, while Gauff and Andreeva face tough challenges against two prominent names on the WTA Tour.

World No. 2 Coco Gauff will be the first to step onto the main stadium court starting at 11:00 AM local time. Gauff has had relatively smooth sailing to reach the second week of the tournament so far, still without dropping a set. She defeated Marie Bouzkova in the third round and will be looking to reach the Roland Garros quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive time – a remarkable achievement for the 21-year-old.

She'll face the consistently strong Ekaterina Alexandrova (No. 20), who comes off eliminating her compatriot Veronika Kudermetova. The 20th seed has maintained significant consistency on her first serve, achieving over 65% effectiveness in all her matches. This is her first appearance at this stage of Roland Garros. She missed the Rome Open a few weeks ago due to injury but has been impeccable at the French Open, not conceding more than 5 games per match, securing 15 breaks, and only dropping her serve on four occasions.

The head-to-head currently favors Gauff 3-1, though this will be their first clay-court encounter.

This match will feature the tournament's surprise: local wildcard Lois Boisson (No. 361), the only French player still in contention. The 22-year-old is making her first main draw appearance at a Grand Slam and has already secured a ranking rise of nearly 200 positions. She's an unfamiliar opponent for Jessica Pegula, who will be the heavy favorite, though there's always an extra complication when facing an unknown rival in this type of tournament.

On the American's side, she hadn't performed well on clay in recent weeks, with a 3-4 record after winning the Charleston Open title. However, she has shown great form recently and comes off defeating former finalist Marketa Vondrousova, rallying from behind to advance to the fourth round 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Pegula currently has the chance to achieve her best ranking at the end of the tournament – appearing as No. 2 in the live ranking – though she'll need to keep advancing if she doesn't want to be surpassed by Gauff.

The day will open with a clash between two close friends: world No. 6 Mirra Andreeva against the experienced Daria Kasatkina (No. 17). The teenager is defending her semifinal appearance from last year. So far, she has been impeccable, without dropping a set, and with a dominant victory over Yulia Putintseva in the third round (6-3, 6-1). Andreeva appears as the favorite, but one of the players who knows her best is Kasatkina, a regular training partner who already defeated her in their only previous encounter in the Ningbo Open final.

Kasatkina, for her part, has remained consistent for several years and already has a Roland Garros semifinal appearance (2022) to her name. She will arrive full of confidence after eliminating world No. 10 Paula Badosa, her first top-10 victory in almost a year. Kasatkina has always adapted well to clay courts and will surely come in confident of surprising Andreeva.

An All-American clash, where on paper, Madison Keys (No. 8) appears to be the overwhelming favorite. The Australian Open champion from earlier this year has far more experience in this type of tournament than her opponent, Baptiste, who is making her first appearance in the second week of a Grand Slam. Keys already boasts a 27-6 record this season and has two titles. This will be a good chance to continue racking up wins, following a 10-0 record in majors this season.

She'll face another tournament surprise: 24-year-old Hailey Baptiste (No. 70), who has guaranteed her best ranking at the end of the tournament, reaching the top-60 for the first time in her career. She already upset 23rd seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the first round and will be looking for her first top-10 victory against her compatriot.