Coco Gauff backed by Chris Evert ‘to play a lot better’ in quarter-finals after ‘inconsistent’ last-16 win

Chris Evert believes Coco Gauff will play “a lot better” after overcoming windy conditions to beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open.

Gauff’s hunt for a first Grand Slam title continues in France and will face world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the last eight in a rematch of the 2022 final at Roland-Garros.

Gauff admits the wind made it hard for her to play her normal game and compatriot Evert thinks the 19-year-old will play better in the next round.

“It was kind of interesting to me, it was so up and down,” Evert said on Eurosport’s coverage of Roland-Garros.

“When she was good, she was great. She was hitting some great shots: her backhand, net approaches, her drop shots were unbelievable. But then she’d hit a few forehands seven or eight feet out, and I was thinking that it might’ve been the wind.”

Gauff reached the fourth round after fighting back to beat Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva on Saturday.

“It was a pretty inconsistent match, but she had a lot of pressure two days ago playing the young star, who was so good,” Evert continued.

“It took the emotion out of her a bit, and perhaps she came out here a bit flat, thinking she was playing the No. 100 in the world.

“She’s going to play a lot better, especially if she plays Iga in the next round.

“I do think the wind is different here. It goes in circles. It’s [unpredictable], and you have to get your footing. If you get your footing early, the ball is going to shoot out six inches. That’s the trouble.

“If you know how to play the wind well, that’s like two games a set.”

Mats Wilander believes Gauff needs to improve her serve if she is to be a consistent contender for Grand Slam titles.

“She’s an unbelievable problem solver,” he said.

“Her serve, she needs to keep the left arm up longer. I cannot believe that with all her coaching, she keeps making that miss of throwing the ball too far in front. Keep your left arm up longer, and throw it higher. She’s so athletic.

“Throw it to the left. Is it mental? Can she do it in practice and then gets afraid of it?”

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