Jennifer Brady, unable to play through pain caused by plantar fasciitis, had to retire from the third-round match after just one set and 19 minutes.
Coco Gauff has already played in the second week at Roland Garros. The junior tournaments are held during that period, and she won the French Open girls title here in 2018. Though she is still young enough to be eligible for the juniors and has friends who are taking part in them this year, those days are gone for Gauff at 17. Her talent, drive and precocity have put her on the brink of the top 20, and though she did not get to showcase her game for long on Saturday against Jennifer Brady, it comes as no surprise that Gauff is in the second week of the main event this year. “I think you can tell that I’m improving and making smarter decisions on the court,” Gauff said. She will face Ons Jabeur in the fourth round on Monday. Gauff has already reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. She called her first week in Paris probably her “most professional” at a Grand Slam tournament. “No unnecessary three-set matches and stuff like that,” she said. That is in part because she has minimized two of her recurring issues: forehand errors and double faults. But she only had to play one set on Saturday, and it lasted just 19 minutes as Brady, a serious threat, struggled to move without pain because of plantar fasciitis and retired in tears after the opening set. The 13th-seeded Brady, a former U.C.L.A. star, reached the United States Open semifinals last year and the Australian Open final this year. But her foot problem, which she said could also be linked to a bone bruise, caused her to withdraw from the Italian Open last month. Plantar fasciitis can be tricky and can take a long time to resolve. Though she went to Germany for treatment and ultimately decided to play in the French Open, she could manage to play only two full singles matches despite a high tolerance for pain in general. “I have tolerated a lot of pain,” she said of her foot. “I walked out there obviously thinking I was going to finish the match, win the match.
