2022 Finalist Gauff Rallies from a Slow Start to Advance at Roland Garros

| by Zachary Wimer

Coco Gauff had to dig deep in her opening match at the 2023 Roland Garros, beating Rebeka Masarova in three sets.

After reaching the final last year, the expectations were high for the American ahead of the tournament. But she drew a talented Spanish player Masarova, who managed to break into the Top 100 on the WTA Tour this year.

The two met once already this year in Auckland and it was a victorious match for Gauff who won her first title of the season there. This time, the 19-year-old was the favourite once again, but her clay-court preparation has been far from ideal after an early exit in Rome.

But the start to the first-round match wasn't good for Gauff. Masarova managed to break in the second game, and she then saved eight break points throughout the set to win the first set 6-3.

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But Gauff was determined to start a comeback and she did exactly that in the second set. The score was tied at one game all in the second set when the teenager started a seven-game streak, winning the second set 6-1 and building a 2-0 lead in the decider.

Gauff, who confirmed the involvement of Patrick Mouratoglou in her coaching team ahead of the tournament, added one more break in the second set to increase her lead to 4-1.

Although Masarova was able to break back once, the American did the same thing in the next game and eventually won the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and 48 minutes to reach the second round of the 2023 Roland Garros.

Up next, she will face either qualifier Arantxa Rus from the Netherlands or Julia Grabher from Austria. An interesting matchup may occur in the third round as Gauff may meet an opponent younger than herself, 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva who also started with a win.

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