French Open champion Coco Gauff advances to third round after ‘patience tested’ as showdown with Aryna Sabalenka edges closer

Gauff has now won nine matches in a row at the Grand Slam following her 6-3 6-2 success against Sherif.

She next faces Anastasia Potapova, who beat Britain's Katie Boulter 5-7 6-4 6-2.

"It was a physical match, a tough match," said Gauff.

"My patience was really tested today, but Mayar is a great player who competes for every point, I don’t feel like I got many easy points today. I am really happy with how I played."

Gauff could face a semi-final against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who she beat in last year's final.

Sabalenka also progressed to the third round with a 7-5 6-2 win over Elsa Jacquemot.

"No expectations, I’m just having fun," added Gauff.

"I'm enjoying the journey, focusing on the process and not the results."

The scoreline perhaps did not reflect the balance of the match, particularly in the early stages, in which Sherif was good value for her spot against the world No. 4.

Gauff snatched an immediate break, which ultimately proved crucial. After a lengthy back-and-forth on deuce, the American converted her second break point for the advantage, but was drawn back three games later after a lacklustre forehand slice flew wide.

In the thrilling game that followed, the pair played out 19 thrilling points which resulted with Sherif's serve broken, as Gauff displayed her immaculate defensive game by anticipating every one of her opponent's thunderous strikes at the net, before planting a cross-court backhand on the stretch right onto the feet on the Egyptian.

While Gauff went on to drop serve again, she immediately responded before finally calming down proceedings and closing the opener with a love hold.

The second set started with five straight breaks of serve, with Gauff coming out on top to lead 3-2.

The defending champion then got the first hold of the set and won the next two games to seal the win.

Sabalenka was given a tough test by Jacquemot, who recovered from a break down to level the first set at 5-5.

The fightback seemed to spur on Sabalenka as she reeled off five games in a row and went on to win 7-5 6-2.

Sabalenka, who is bidding to win the French Open for the first time, next faces Daria Kasatkina.

”That was a tricky match, tricky opponent,” said Sabalenka.

”She played really incredible tennis, forced me to step in and play on another level and I am happy I could handle it and get the win.”

Sabalenka hit 45 winners in total and broke serve in five of Jacquemot's 10 service games.

She thanked the crowd for being "respectful" even though she was playing against a French player.

"Thank you, you have been so respectful, I know you wanted her to win but thank you for your respect."

- - -

Add TNT Sports as a preferred source here to enjoy more content like this.

Stream every court from the 2026 French Open exclusively live on TNT Sports and HBO Max