Defending Roland Garros champion Coco Gauff is through to the second round. In a routine 6-4, 6-0 win over American compatriot Taylor Townsend, Gauff advances to the Round of 64 in Paris for the seventh consecutive tournament.
Roland Garros: Scores | Order of play | Draws
Tuesday’s first-round meeting marked their first between Gauff and Townsend on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, though Townsend edged the then 15-year-old Gauff, now 22, in three sets at a W100 in Charleston, South Carolina in May 2019. Fast forward seven years, and the reigning French Open champion entered as the presumed favorite against Townsend, who has now not advanced past the first round in Paris since 2018.
“When I saw it was going to be hot, I definitely think it’s something I do well in and can thrive in a bit because of growing up in Florida,” Gauff said to press. “I know some people try to practice early, but I try to sometimes practice in the prime of the day, even if it’s shorter, just to get used to, because you never know.”
Gauff will face Egypt’s Mayar Sherif in the second round on Thursday.
By the numbers, here are the key stats and how Gauff moved on in Paris:
6: In total, Gauff broke Townsend’s serve six times and converted 50% of her break point opportunities. In contrast, Townsend converted just 2-of-9.
11: After avoiding going down two breaks early in the match, Gauff managed to win 11 of the final 12 games against Townsend, including sweeping the entire second set.
12: The strength for Townsend was finishing the points at the net, winning 12-of-20 points when she was at the net. Eleven of those were in the first set.
15: Gauff finished with 15 winners, though that was seven less than Townsend. However, Gauff’s winner-to-unforced error ratio was 1:1 compared to Townsend’s 1:1.4
17: Gauff has now won 17 of her last 19 matches against left-handed opponents.
31: Townsend’s 31 unforced errors were her Achilles heel in Tuesday’s matchup, including some in potential match-altering moments. Gauff committed just under half of that mark with 15.
60%: Gauff was stellar on the return, winning 15-of-25 (60%) of points that were on Townsend’s first serve. That figure was nearly identical to those on Townsend’s second serve as Gauff won 14-of-24 (58%).
The key moments
Townsend misses chance to go up 4-1 and two breaks: Townsend broke Gauff in the very first game of the match, and the benefit of that was Townsend’s ability to put the pressure on her counterpart early. After Townsend remained firm on her serve, she had a monumental opportunity to earn a second break. She set herself up with break point after firing a cross-court forehand that Gauff watched jet right past her.
But on the break point — and Townsend’s chances were even higher as Gauff missed her first serve — Townsend sailed her return long, often a common occurrence Tuesday.
“I had thoughts about what if I lose and stuff,” Gauff added. “Honestly, I kind of remember that tennis is two out of three sets, and I think Rome taught me a lot about my ability after losing the first set and stuff. I felt like Taylor came out playing really great tennis, and I just felt like if she continues to play like this and she wins a match like this, then she deserves to win and I could walk away and be like, ‘I just wasn’t good enough today.’
“So I didn’t allow myself mentally, I think, today to get to that point where I feel like in the past I would.”
Gauff wins four straight games, goes up a break at 5-3: With the pendulum shifted fully in Gauff’s favor, Townsend needed to stop the bleeding, and she was faced with double break point opportunities for Gauff. She saved the first with great serve that had a massive kick to affect Gauff’s return, but on the second, Taylor sailed her hit long and Gauff’s break lead was consequential as despite giving the break right back, Gauff broke Townsend for the third time to take the first set.
Townsend’s missed open-court winner: After a quick hold by Gauff to open the second set, Townsend’s first service game was level at 30-30. Townsend did well on the point to stretch Gauff to the corners, so much that she had a seemingly routine backhand winner in the open court. Rather, the hit that was directed cross-court went wide, setting up another break point for Gauff and Townsend knew the magnitude, bent over on her racquet.
Gauff capitalized on that moment, and ultimately took the second set in under a half hour.