Young WTA star Coco Gauff reached the second round of the 2021 French Open with a hard-fought win against Aleksandra Krunic.
The 17-year-old triumphed 7-6 (13-11), 6-4 over the world No. 213 in the opening round in Paris.
The world No. 25 battled to win a marathon opening set in an hour and 23 minutes.
The set went to a tiebreak after the pair exchanged breaks – and after Gauff saved three break points while Krunic saved a remarkable 10.
The American converted a third set point to edge a lengthy tiebreak, after Krunic had four set points.
Gauff then broke the 28-year-old Serbian twice to race to a 4-0 second set lead, but was pegged back to lead 5-4.
She saved a break point in serving out the match to complete a tough straight-set victory.
The 24th seed will play Wang Qiang in the second round – after the world No. 39 from China beat Hsieh Su-Wei in three sets.
The American won the pair’s only previous meeting in the WTA Parma final just over a week ago.
