Mayar Sherif ‘proud’ of Roland Garros performance against Coco Gauff, who hailed Egyptian’s ‘bravery’

PARIS: Mayar Sherif’s journey at this year’s Roland Garros came to an end on Thursday with a second-round defeat to defending champion Coco Gauff but the Egyptian says she leaves Paris feeling “proud” of her performances and “motivated” for what’s to come.
Sherif, who won four matches in Paris through qualifying and main draw, pushed Gauff hard across their one-hour 50-minute battle on Court Suzanne-Lenglen before falling to the American No. 4 seed 6-3, 6-2.
Gauff later hailed Sherif’s “bravery” and said the Egyptian world No.

129 proved to be one of her toughest opponents of the year so far, alongside Elina Svitolina, who beat Gauff in the Rome final earlier this month.
“First, I know she’s a tough competitor. I think she got to top 31 in the world, and I played her three years ago in Cincinnati.

I knew what to expect and knew it was going to be a tough, physical match,” said Gauff of Sherif.
“I definitely think she’s a bit underrated. She’s someone you don’t really want to play, especially on clay, because she really makes you earn every point, more so than anyone I’ve played this year so far.

Maybe between her and Elina have been my most physical matches, despite the scoreline today being a little more straightforward, but we had many long games.”
Sherif has been making history for Egypt for the past several years on the tennis tour. She is the first Egyptian woman to win a match at a Grand Slam, to crack the top 100 and the top 50, to compete at the Olympics in tennis, and to win a WTA title.
Three years ago, the Cairo native became the highest-ranked Egyptian in tennis history, surpassing Ismail El-Shafei on her way to her career-high spot of 31 in the world.
“What she’s doing is incredible, and I definitely think