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Paris, May 29 (IANS): American teenager Coco Gauff reached the quarterfinals of the French Open after beating Belgium's Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-0, here on Sunday.
Gauff, seeded No 18, was down a break twice in the first set against No 31 seed Mertens, but won the last eight games of the match. She wore Mertens down over the course of 82 minutes with world-class defense.
The 18-year-old American won 51 of the 75 total points of more than five shots in the match. On the other hand, Mertens, who missed much of the clay-court season before the French Open with an injury, hit 25 unforced errors and only 15 winners.
Gauff, conversely, hit 19 winners to 17 unforced errors. She also broke Mertens six times and won 17 of 20 points when she went to the net.
The youngest of three teenagers to reach the last 16, Gauff joined Leylah Fernandez in the quarterfinals. Zheng Qinwen, 19, is the next player up for World No 1 Iga Swiatek, and they'll play their fourth-round match on Monday.
Gauff will next face either compatriot Sloane Stephens or No 23 seed Jil Teichmann of Switzerland.