By Sybille de La Hamaide
PARIS (Reuters) -Second seed Coco Gauff moved into the French Open third round on Thursday by beating unseeded Czech Tereza Valentova 6-2 6-4 although the American did not have things all her own way.
Gauff came under threat from the 18-year-old Valentova’s powerful serve but found a way past her thanks to her relentless returning and powerful groundstrokes.
“She’s very young and I knew it would be a tough match,” 2022 runner-up Gauff said.
The 21-year-old took the opening set in 35 minutes but a string of service breaks, three in total, made the second a lot more competitive as her Czech opponent refused to go down quietly.
Gauff, a finalist in Madrid and Rome this year, will next take on Marie Bouzkova.
(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris, editing by Ed Osmond)
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