As Coco Gauff fell behind against Mirra Andreeva, a 16-year-old Russian qualifier with a ranking of 143, a murmur rippled across Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The excited chatter reflected a belief that Gauff, who became the youngest major finalist in 18 years at Roland Garros last year, might be heading towards a major upset against a player young enough to discuss her distaste for chemistry schoolwork in the press room.
And when the American sixth seed turned the match on its head to move into the fourth round with a 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-1 win, it seemed equally obvious to conclude that the 19-year-old’s victory could be chalked down to experience.
In fact, neither view of the match was entirely accurate. This was more than just a tale of innocence and experience, although both were undoubtedly factors in the outcome.
As Gauff pointed out beforehand, and reiterated afterwards, there are more pressing things to worry about in the heat of battle than an opponent’s age. Where others saw a battle of teen prodigies, the players themselves viewed things in more prosaic terms. “I just play,” said Andreeva, looking ahead to the match. “It’s the third round of Roland Garros I will play.”
Gauff, meanwhile, promised to go about her business “as you would play any other person that’s grown and strong” – and with good cause. Andreeva, a junior finalist at this year’s Australian Open, showed in Madrid just how well she can handle herself at senior level, reaching the last 16 as a wild card with wins over former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez as well as Beatriz Haddad Maia and Magda Linette, both ranked in the top 20 at the time.
The manner in which Andreeva demonstrated her tactical nous and variety, keeping Gauff off balance by mixing deep, penetrating groundstrokes with moonballs, drop shots and sharp changes of direction to take a first set of multiple breaks, showed that Gauff was right to afford the Russian qualifier respect. Good tennis tends to be effective regardless of age.
“I don’t know if Mirra feels the same way, but people love to say, ‘You’re only this, you’re only that,’” said Gauff. “On the court, we’re not thinking about our age.
“I don’t think she was thinking, ‘Oh, I’m only 16 and she’s 19, she’s older.’ If she was thinking that she wouldn’t win a match, because she beat people older than me. And at my age I wasn’t thinking about that, I was just thinking about playing the ball.
“Age is important to mention sometimes but, as a player and going through it, it gets a little bit annoying.
“I prefer just to be praised because of my game, not because of things I’m doing at whatever age.”
Age did nonetheless play some part in the outcome. After missing the second of three set points in the tiebreak, Andreeva swatted a ball into the crowd. Had it made contact with a spectator, she would have been instantly defaulted. As it was, her punishment was limited to a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. But the incident revealed a peevish streak that would only become more pronounced as Gauff, whose first-set performance provided ample ammunition for those who maintain improvements are required to her forehand and second serve, calmly took control of the match.
The contrast in composure over the final two sets was striking, Andreeva’s focus spiralling downwards even as Gauff’s intensified. Now into her fifth year as a professional, the American was able to draw on a frame of reference that Andreeva, more accustomed to brushing aside opponents in straight sets than grinding out wins, has yet to acquire.
Even so, neither player viewed the outcome simply as a triumph of having been there before. For Andreeva, the greater problem lay in the realisation that victory was within her grasp – a recognition that can make any player freeze on the big stage, experience notwithstanding.
“I went [out] just to play, and after I won the first set I realised that I can win,” said Andreeva. “In the beginning, I was just playing, I didn’t expect like to win or to lose. I was just playing how the game goes.
“After I won the first set, I realised that I can really win this match. Then I got a little bit nervous not to lose this opportunity. So I think that was a mistake from me. I should have just continued playing.”
Gauff, meanwhile, felt the key to victory lay in persevering with a game plan that, as she recognised, was only derailed initially by the excellence of her opponent.
“I don’t know if experience played [a part],” said Gauff. “When I played against her, I didn’t feel like she was lacking experience.
“I had a feeling that, even though I lost that set, I felt like I won the set. I knew in my head that I was playing the right way. I mean, 6-5 serving for it, 30-0 and she played great in the tie-breaker.
“I think I had two loose points, and that matters in the tie-breaker.”
Meanwhile, there was no looseness of any kind from Iga Swiatek, who remained on course for a potential quarter-final meeting with Gauff with a 6-0, 6-0 win over China’s Wang Xinyu.
The Polish world No 1, who defeated Gauff to claim her second title in Paris last summer, becomes the first player to complete a match at Roland Garros without losing a game since 2017, when Caroline Wozniacki whitewashed Francoise Abanda in the second round. Yet Swiatek vowed there would be no complacency when she takes on Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko.
“I always try to be careful, because you don’t want to get lazy,” said Swiatek. “It’s never easy to win these matches. But on the other hand, sometimes all your head can remember is the score.”
It is a pitfall that Andreeva will be equally keen to avoid.