Coco Gauff began her 2024 Roland Garros with a decisive win over a qualifier, Julia Avdeeva, in under 60 minutes.
The American declared a few weeks ago that she wants to win Roland Garros. She already has one major final in the French capital, but it wasn't a particularly close match. Iga Swiatek easily proved the better player in 2022, leaving Gauff with a runner-up trophy.
The same player is expected to win once more by many, though performances like this from Gauff certainly could show that there are also other players who can do well. Her opponent, Avdeeva, is not a player who has experience of playing the biggest matches, and it showed.
The opening set was pretty quick, lasting under 30 minutes, as the American sprinted to a 6-1 finish. She dominated the rallies, putting a lot of pressure on her opponent, and Avdeeva never found a solution.
Gauff didn't serve spectacularly well, but she didn't allow any breakpoints. Avdeeva tried a few things here and there, but none of that worked, as she totaled 13 unforced errors in only 7 games of play
That is not good enough at any level of tennis, and the third seed capitalized on that. In the second set, Gauff played a bit sharper as she finally found a good rhythm.
The serve looked good in the second set, and she hit a few really nice winners. Avdeeva once again struggled, hitting the ball all over the place but rarely inside the court.
That resulted in another set under 30 minutes with the same score of 6-1. The final score was 6-1, 6-1 for Gauff, who was happy with the win but also the fact that she's in Paris.
"Paris is my favorite city. It was the first time I ever left the country when I was 10 years old. I fell in love with Paris. I just like to walk around and people watch. French people are very fashionable. I like to try to copy their outfits a bit."
| Coco Gauff | 6-1, 6-1 | Julia Avdeeva |
| 3 | Aces | 1 |
| 4 | Double Faults | 4 |
| 63% | First Serve % | 57% |
| 96% (23/24) | Points Won After First Serve % | 48% (12/25) |
| 50% (7/14) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 26% (5/19) |
| 63% (5/8) | Break Point Conversion | 0% (0/0) |
| 10 | Winners | 4 |
| 10 | Unforced Errors | 23 |