Jabeur defeats Pera in straight sets to reach quarter-finals
COCO GAUFF ALSO REACHES THE QF FOR 3RD CONSECUTIVE YEAR
PARIS: Bernarda Pera could not win a single game on her serve Monday as she was eliminated in straight sets in the fourth round of the French Open.
Facing seventh-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, the unseeded American was broken eight times on Court Philippe Chatrier and lost 6-3, 6-1. Jabeur won 15 of 16 points on Pera's second serve.
Jabeur, the runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, advanced to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time in her career.
Jabeur also struggled with her serve but managed to save eight of the 12 break points she faced. “She put a lot of pressure on my service,” Jabeur said. “I'm pleased that I was able to win my service games when I needed to . ... Hopefully, I'll return well and serve better in my next match.” Pera looked frustrated and tried to shorten rallies, but the strategy did not work. She ended up making 33 unforced errors in total.
Back from a calf injury that hampered her preparations for the tournament, Jabeur became the first Tunisian and
Arab woman to progress that far at the French Open. She is the first African woman to reach the last eight at Roland Garros since South Africa's Amanda Coetzer reached the semifinals in 1997. Jabeur will next take on another first-time quarterfinalist in Paris 14thseeded Beatriz Haddad Maia, who prevailed over Sara Sorribes Tormo after a nearly fourhour marathon.
Coco Gauff put aside a skinned knee and a bad stretch in the first set to reach the French Open quarterfinals for the third consecutive year with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Monday.
Next for Gauff could be a rematch against No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who beat the 19-year-old American in last year's final at Roland Garros. Swiatek was scheduled to face Lesia Tsurenko in the fourth round later Monday.
Gauff grabbed a 5-2 lead against Schmiedlova, but then things got more interesting. Gauff got broken while serving for the set at 5-2 and again at 5-4.
She helped the 100thranked Schmiedlova who had never been past the third round at a major tournament with a double-fault, then dumped a forehand into the net to end a 21-stroke exchange, making it 5-all. In the next game, Gauff stumbled on the slippery clay in sun-splashed but windy Court Philippe Chatrier, scraping her right knee.
After she gathered herself to claim that set, Gauff was visited by a trainer.
Facing seventhseeded Ons Jabeur, the unseeded American was broken eight times on Court Philippe Chatrier and lost 6-3, 6-1