Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 1, 2023 Coco Gauff of the U.S. in action during her second round match against Austria's Julia Grabher REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
PARIS (Reuters) - American sixth seed Coco Gauff suffered a mid-match wobble but subdued Julia Grabher 6-2 6-3 in a tricky second-round encounter at the French Open on Thursday to continue her charge towards a first Grand Slam crown.
Gauff, who was defeated in the title clash last year by Iga Swiatek, faced an early test against the aggressive Austrian world number 61 but saved two break points before surging to a 5-1 lead and wrapped up the opening set without any problems.
The pair freely traded breaks early in a tense second set before the 19-year-old Gauff seized the advantage and wrapped up the contest on serve.
"It feels great. She's a tricky player, I played her on hard courts earlier this year and she gets a lot of height and depth on her balls ... and sometimes you don't know what to expect," Gauff said on court.
Up next for Gauff is 16-year-old Russian qualifier Mirra Andreeva, who beat Frenchwoman Diane Parry 6-1 6-2 to become the youngest player to reach the French Open third round since 2005.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris)
