Gauff and Pegula both eased into the third round with straight-set wins. Pegula got things started on Court Philippe Chatrier, defeating fellow American Ann Li 6-3, 7-6 (3). Gauff followed up on Court Suzanne Lenglen with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Czech Republic qualifier Tereza Valentova.
Later, Keys was to play Katie Boulter.
In a typically smooth, consistent performance, Pegula broke Li’s serve three times, while saving six of seven break points against her.
“It was a really tough match today,” Pegula said afterward. “Ann has been playing some really good tennis this year and had a lot of close matches with good players. It was tricky with the wind. She was slicing a lot, kind of making me earn a lot of points.
“I felt like it was a pretty physical match, a lot of long points and long games. But happy I was able to kind of hold on to that second set there definitely.”
This was Pegula’s 30th match-win of the year — only World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (36) has won more. Pegula is 10-5 at Roland Garros, but nine of those wins have come against unseeded opponents. She’s 9-0 in those matches.
Next up for the 31-year-old Pegula: unseeded Marketa Vondrousova, a three-set winner over No. 25 Magdalena Frech, in a third-round match on Saturday. Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, reached the Roland Garros final in 2019.
The meeting of Gauff and Valentova was a collision of the 2018 and 2024 French Open junior champions. Not surprisingly, age and experience eventually won out over a player in her first WTA Tour-level main draw.
Gauff has won 12 of her 13 career meetings against younger opponents, losing to only Diana Shnaider in Toronto last season. She’s also 9-2 against qualifiers at the Grand Slams. Her 22 main-draw match-wins at Roland Garros are the most at any single tournament.
Gauff will play Marie Bouzkova, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Sonay Kartal, on Saturday.
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