French Open 2025 Women’s Day 7

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula needed fighting wins to put a pair of US seeds into the French Open fourth round, with both overcoming dangerous Czech opponents on Saturday.

Gauff, seeded second and a former finalist here, won the first set but had to come through after eight breaks of serve in the second set to defeat Marie Bouzkova 6-1, 7-6 (3).

Pegula needed a fightback to reach the fourth round, defeating former Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The Gauff match featured long rallies, with the seed winning her 23rd match here.

“She was putting a lot of balls back,” the winner said. “But I had to generate most of the pace. I’m happy with how I stayed with it – not easy.

“In the first set I was playing well, in the second it was a few points here and there and I just missed some.

The third-seeded Pegula finally got the measure of her Vondrousova, a quarter-finalist here a year ago.

Pegula improved her Roland Garros record to 11-5 as she moved into a match against French wildl card Lois Boisson, who beat compatriot Elsa Jacquemot 6-3, 0-6, 7-5.

“They’re going to have some crazy support for them, but I’m pretty good at zoning out,” Pegula said. “I’ve played in some pretty rowdy crowds. 

“I think it will be fun, it will be cool to be a part of that. That will be a fun

experience. I don’t think I have ever played a French player here, so that will be interesting.”

Pegula was pleased with her showing against Vondrousova.

“I know playing Marketa is always going to be a battle, especially since we had not played on clay before.

“I was thinking it was going to be really tricky, and it definitely was. It’s also super humid today. 

“I felt like it was just a really tough match mentally and physically   

Australian Open champion Madison Keys  escaped with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win against fellow former Melbourne titleholder Sofia Kenin.

“It was a great experience, I had so much crowd support to get through that match,” Keys said. “In the first set I was letting her dictate too much, I tried to move her around a bit more on her serve after that.”

Newest Aussie Daria Kasatkina ended the hopes of 10th seed Paula Badosa with a 6-1, 7-5 victory as the Spanird went out with 41 unforced errors.

Kasatkina, who took up citizenship a few weeks ago, will line up next against 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva.

The teenager beat Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-1 and credited a momento  left on her chair by the little girl who accompanied her in the match walk-on with at least some of the success.

Andreeva called the intricately painted round paper badge her “good luck charm” while thanking the anonymous child in her post-match interview.

“I felt a little nervous before the match, but overall, I felt like I could do whatever I want to on the court,” the No. 6 seed said.

“I felt free, even though the  match was tight I can create what I want. It felt
nice, honestly..

“I’m happy that with every match I play, I feel better and better. I think that this is a good thing.”

Kasatkina won their only previous meeting in China last season, taking three sets to advance.

“I think that we practise together every tournament. It’s going to be an entertaining match, for sure, because we both know each other very well.

“I think it’s going to be fun and also maybe pretty tight.”

Kasatkina has been turning her recent tennis around after arriving in Paris with three consecutive defeats.

“The last couple of weeks were a bit rough for me,” she said. “I couldn’t find myself on court. I felt a little bit flat, like with emotions and stuff.

“I would feel little signs of burnout or something like that. I’m really happy that I got back on track here in Roland Garros, one of my favorite tournaments.

“I’m playing much better, feeling much better on court. That’s the most important.”

Ekaterina Alexndrova defeated Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, XXX