Advertisement

French Open Day 7: Coco Gauff rallies to win, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe fall in third round

Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina withdrew due to illness, while Świątek and Ruud moved on

Tyler Greenawalt
·Staff writer
·4 min read

French Open Day 6 roundup

While one prominent American advanced, two fell in the third round of the 2023 French Open.

No. 6-seeded Coco Gauff moved on to the fourth round after she won the final two sets of a three-set match against unseeded 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva. Gauff, only 19 herself, lost the first set on a tight tiebreaker but cruised in the final two to pull off the win, 6(5)-7(7), 6-1, 6-1. Gauff made it to the final of the 2022 French Open, in which she lost to Iga Świątek.

Gauff spoke highly of the young Andreeva, who was making her first Grand Slam appearance.

“Mirra is super young, and there’s a big future for her," Gauff said. "I remember I was here playing at 16 years old. She has a lot to look forward to. You guys will hopefully see many more matches between the two of us.”

Taylor Fritz, the No. 9 seed, didn't fare so well. After an opening-set win over No. 23 seed Francisco Cerúndolo of Argentina, Fritz, the No. 8-ranked ATP player in the world, dropped the final three sets to lose in five sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. Fritz has never advanced past the third round at the French Open and has made it past the fourth round in a Grand Slam only once.

Hours later, No. 12 seed Frances Tiafoe fell to No. 22 seed and two-time French Open semifinalist Alexander Zverev 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 7-6 (5). Like with Fritz, the loss prevented the American from reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time.

American Coco Gauff moved on to the fourth round of the 2023 French Open. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
American Coco Gauff moved on to the fourth round of the 2023 French Open. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) (Clive Mason via Getty Images)

How other Americans fared

  • Kayla Day lost to Anna Karolína Schmiedlová of Slovakia in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.

  • Marcos Giron lost in four sets to Nicolás Jarry of Chile, 2-6, 3-6, 7(9)-6(7), 3-6.

  • Bernarda Pera beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy in straight sets, 6-4, 7(7)-6(2).

Rybakina withdraws

Day 7 at Roland-Garros opened with a sad end for Elena Rybakina's time at the French Open. The 2023 Australian Open runner-up and 2022 Wimbledon champion withdrew from her third-round match with Sara Sorribes Tormo after she said she picked up a cold in Paris.

"I was already not feeling good yesterday and the day before, so I didn't sleep two nights and had some fever," she said. "I really tried on the warm-up, but I feel that the right decision is to withdraw because it's really tough to play with these conditions."

Rybakina, the No. 4 seed, was on an eight-match win streak before she exited the competition.

Świątek cruises to victory

No surprise here, but Iga Świątek, the top seed in the women's field, breezed through to the fourth round with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Wang Xinyu of China. The match took just 51 minutes.

Ruud beats Zhang

The No. 4 seed out of Norway lost his opening set to unseeded Zhang Zhizhen of China, but Ruud found his groove to win the final three sets and advance to the fourth round in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 victory. Ruud made it to the finals in last year's French Open before losing to Rafael Nadal.

Etcheverry upsets Ćorić

Unseeded Tomás Martín Etcheverry took down No. 15 seed Borna Ćorić of Croatia in three sets, 6-3, 7(7)-6(5), 6-2. The 23-year-old Argentine has never advanced past the second round in a Grand Slam, and now Etcheverry will face No. 27 Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan.

Other notable results

  • Nishioka defeated Thiago Seyboth Wild in five sets after he won the final two sets. Nishioka dropped the first set, almost lost the second set and lost the third set before he rallied to pull off the win, 3-6, 7(10)-6(8), 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.

  • No. 6 Holder Rune beat Genaro Alberto Olivieri in three sets, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3. The 20-year-old Dane advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2022 French Open and the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open.

  • No. 14 Beatriz Haddad Maia came back after a first-set loss to defeat No. 23 Ekaterina Alexandrova, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.