Coco Gauff seals Elise Mertens win with bagel to make quarter-finals of French Open at Roland-Garros

Coco Gauff recorded a 6-4 6-0 victory over Elise Mertens to claim a place in the quarter-finals of the French Open for the second consecutive year. After progressing through the second and third round without dropping a set, the 18th seed once again looked in fine fettle, finishing off the game with a bagel to cruise into the last eight.

Ad/> The in-form American will now meet Jil Tiechmann or Sloane Stephens in the next round. WTA RomeGauff extends Kerber’s losing run as Fernandez and Halep also advance in Rome09/05/2022 AT 20:52 Gauff made a bright start, but despite following up a hold by clocking up two break points, Mertens dug out a hold of her own from deuce with a well-timed ace.

Mertens let out a huge roar as she earned an early break thanks to her sizzling return game. Thierry Henry spotted courtside at Djokovic v Schwartzman match at French Open 'Come on then!' — Djokovic points to ear to provoke crowd after incredible shot and booing Both players were going hammer and tongs in a relentless battle to gain the initiative early on, and Gauff responded with a break back after another lengthy game in which she converted a third break point.

What appeared to be a ding-dong contest swung back in the favour of the Belgian when she broke her opponent, but Coco responded with another of her own to bring up 3-3. After a succession of dominant holds, Gauff’s pressure told as she claimed the opening set in 58 minutes with a break from deuce.

The American quickly turned the screw in the second set as she followed up a solid hold with a break to love and consolidated without dropping a point on serve. That was a sign of things to come as she took total control, securing the insurance break to make it six games on the spin