Paris 2024 Olympics: Gauff rolls, Collins and Navarro battle into third round

It was a near-perfect Day 3 of the tennis event at the Paris 2024 Olympics for Team USA on Monday, as three of the four U.S. women in action cemented their spots in the third round, while the Americans' men's doubles effort also with a pair of victories. 

Gauff rolls again

Playing on the hottest day of the tournament thus far, Coco Gauff knew that efficiency would be paramount—and she was. The No.2 seed ousted Argentina's Maria Lourdes Carle 6-1, 6-1, a win in which she broke serve six times.

Gauff was nonplussed about the conditions—though they did require her to embrace some unfamiliar territory.

"I came from Florida, where it is hotter, but it is hot out there. You feel it, but I feel like I know how to survive in that type of weather, maybe better than some other players," she said. "I did use the ice towel, which I rarely do in matches, but it was more of a preventative thing because I'm in three events. Even today. I usually wouldn't take an ice bath after a match like this, but I'm just trying my best to be preventative before maybe I feel fatigue and everything.

"Obviously, my last two matches have went quick, so I'm just trying to think for the future towards the end of the tournament."

For a spot in the quarterfinals, Gauff will face No. 13 seed and recent Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekic of Croatia, who defeated 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in her second-round match.

Collins, Navarro dig deep to advance; Pegula falls

There were much tougher affairs on offer for Gauff's teammates. Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro needed three-set matches to join the reigning US Open champion in the next round, while Jessica Pegula's Olympic bid in singles ended at the hands of possibly the toughest second-round opponent in the draw: former world No. 3 Elina Svitolina.

Eleventh-seeded Navarro was the first to book a third-round spot, and the only one of the three to rally from a set down. In 2 hours and 22 minutes, Navarro staved off cramping to earn a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1 win over Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova. The 23-year-old admitted afterwards that she was relieved to earn a win on a day where she "wasn't playing [her] best."

"I'm super proud of how scrappy I was and how much fight I played with," she said. "I love competing with the American flag on my shirt and I'm so pumped to do it again tomorrow."

Collins' next opponent will be Colombia's Camila Osorio, who followed up her first-round upset of No. 10 seed Jelena Ostapenko with another straight-sets win, this time over Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.

But Yastremska's countrywoman Svitolina denied the U.S. women a sweep on the day when she rallied for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over Pegula on Court Philippe-Chatrier in the night session.

Double delight for the U.S. men

The U.S.'s two men's doubles pairs were both victorious in their first-round matches, with third seeds Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul winning one of the "crazier" tiebreaks that Paul said he ever played en route to their win. After failing to convert two set points in the 12th game of the opening set against Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic, Fritz and Paul staved off a staggering eight set points in the enusing tiebreak before winning it 16-14.