For much of the early stages of her fourth-round tussle on Court Philippe Chatrier, Coco Gauff was fighting an uphill battle. After losing her serve early on, each time she broke back to level the set, she would quickly drop her serve again. Innumerable long, attritional rallies followed against one of the most durable players on the tour, Elise Mertens, and the tightness of the duel was reflected in the tension radiating from Gauff’s mother, Candi, in the stands.
But one of the qualities Gauff can now draw upon is her growing experience. She is in her third season on tour, she has been in some of these positions before and in place of her carefree precociousness of old, she now has the benefit of learning from previous trials.
