Coco Gauff comes back to beat Mirra Andreeva in all-teen clash at French Open

PARIS: Not all that long ago, Coco Gauff was always the kid on the court, the unknown underdog, younger and less experienced than every opponent she faced on a big stage.

Now, still just 19, Gauff is well-versed in the professional tennis tour, already a Grand Slam runner-up in singles and doubles, and seeded No. 6 at this French Open. On Saturday at Roland Garros, the American was the veteran in Court Suzanne Lenglen under the cloudless sky, the one with the steady hand and steady head, in an all-teen showdown against Mirra Andreeva, a 16-year-old qualifier from Russia who is ranked 143rd and was making her debut appearance at a major tournament.

After a tight-as-can-be first set, one Gauff was two points from winning but eventually ceded, she grew her game and proved to be the better player. She pulled away to reach the fourth round in Paris with a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-1 victory over Andreeva, who was warned by the chair umpire for unsportsmanlike conduct after smacking a ball into the stands.

Gauff, who lost to Iga Swiatek in last year’s French Open final, might see a bit of herself in Andreeva. Knows what it’s like to be the newcomer no one has scouting reports on. What it’s like to hear plenty of discussion about her youth. To feel the freedom of performing without the burden of expectations. Gauff was just 14, after all, when she became the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history, then beat Venus Williams along the way to the fourth round there in 2019.

So by now, Gauff is a bit tired of that whole subject — which she explained in a good-natured manner Saturday.

“People love to say, ‘You’re only this, you’re only that.’ When I’m on the court, we’re not thinking about our age. I don’t think she was thinking, ‘Oh,