FRENCH OPEN: RAMPANT COCO GAUFF BLASTS PAST JULIA AVDEEVA IN UNDER AN HOUR – ‘I WAS JUST THE BETTER PLAYER’

Third seed Coco Gauff made a statement start to her bid for French Open glory, cruising to a straight-sets win over debutant Julia Avdeeva in just 52 minutes. The American’s 6-1 6-1 victory marked her 50th win at a major and sent her into the second round against Tamara Zidansek with little fuss. “I was just the better player today,” Gauff said afterwards.

Coco Gauff said she was “the better player” after dropping just two games in an emphatic opening French Open win over qualifier Julia Avdeeva.
The third seed, chasing her second career major after winning the US Open last year, rampaged to a 6-1 6-1 victory in just 52 minutes.

“It was a good day for me. She played well, I was just the better player today,” Gauff said on court.

It marked the 20-year-old’s 50th Grand Slam match win, making her the ninth American woman to reach the landmark before her 21st birthday.
Next up for Gauff is Slovenian world No. 131 Tamara Zidansek, who defeated Alison Van Uytvanck in three sets to reach the second round.
And she was particularly pleased with her improved drop shots since bringing Brad Gilbert into her coaching team last summer.

“Brad has been trying to help me be a good drop-shotter,” Gauff said.
“I’ve been trying to do better at that and today I think I made three drop shots and missed one – that’s pretty good for me, sometimes it’s 50/50. Actually, maybe four.”
Gauff broke Avdeeva at the first time of asking in an ominous sign of things to come for the 21-year-old, who was making her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam.
The Russian found herself 5-0 down before she managed to get a hold on the board to dodge the bagel, but things did not improve after Gauff served out with a love hold.