Coco Gauff is back in the Roland Garros quarterfinals after easily beating Elise Mertens 6-4 6-0 setting up a clash with Soane Stephens.
It was a hard-fought win for Gauff despite the scoreline. She was down a break twice against Mertens in the opening set but rallied to win it. After doing that she was able to smash Mertens easily in the 2nd set saying after the match:
"I feel like every match I'm getting better. I think today even though I had some tough moments I was able to tough it out. I really do feel like I'm progressing with each match."
She continued:
"I definitely feel confident on the court. I feel like [clay] really suits my game. ... The previous tournaments this clay season, I had some good wins but it wasn't really any outstanding results. I feel like it gave me a lot to learn from, and I think I'm taking those tough matches that I lost this season and really learning from them and I guess showing that I'm doing better."
It will be her 2nd time playing Stpehens iwth the older America winning the first last year at the US Open. On facing her again, she said:
"I think last time I played her I was super nervous going into the match. Not because it was Sloane. Just because we were on Ashe and it was all-American matchup. I think a lot of people expected a lot from me in that match. Going in ... [I'm] just going to approach it like any other match. I have to go back and watch that match and see what I can learn from it."
“I’m thinking, especially if US Open taught us anything, that anybody can win on any day. I think all players should really go into the match thinking about that. I think for me I’ve always believed that I could go far, but for other players I think so as well. In this tournament, I mean, both sides of the draw, with the exception of Iga, there are a lot of lower-seeded and lower-ranked players still left in the tournament. So I really think that players believe that. Other players believe that. I think a lot of it stems from that tournament.”
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