PARIS -- American Coco Gauff made a strong start in her bid to win her first French Open title as she eased past Germany's Julia Avdeeva 6-1, 6-1 in the first round on a rainy Monday at Roland Garros for her 50th Grand Slam match victory.
The 20-year-old Gauff, who won her first Grand Slam at the US Open last year after losing the 2022 final in Paris, needed less than an hour to advance, even though the match was briefly halted after Avdeeva accidentally bumped her head against the umpire's when she was contesting a point.
"Today was kind of a straightforward match. I didn't have to do much. I wouldn't say I played amazing. I just had to play solid today. That's what I did," Gauff told reporters.
Adveeda, ranked 208th in the world, was making her Grand Slam debut in Paris and Gauff said she sensed her opponent's stress on the second show court.
"I do think she was a little bit nervous with the bigger court, but I played well, too," Gauff said.
In the second round, world No. 3 Gauff will take on Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek, who had reached the semifinals in the French Open in 2021 and beat Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 on Sunday.
"She's definitely a fighter. I think she has, you know, good ball tolerance, she can make a lot of balls in the court, pretty good mover. So, it's going to be a tough match," Gauff said.
