Coco Gauff held off a spirited Tereza Valentova to book her place in the Italian Open third round in straight sets on Thursday.

Valentova put up a fight against the number three seed, but Gauff prevailed 6-3 6-4 in just 94 minutes.

The American raced into a 4-0 lead, holding off a break-point attempt along the way, but Valentova fought back with two breaks of her own.

Gauff held her nerve to take the first set, though, and her teenage opponent ensured she held her serve in the first game of the second.

However, Gauff reeled off the next three games before Valentova was able to get on the board once again, and she levelled the score at 3-3 in a mammoth sixth game, in which she converted her fourth break point.

The pair traded breaks from there, and it was Gauff who got the upper hand in the end, with a love hold getting her over the finish line.

Eye on the prize @CocoGauff fights her way through Valentova in straight sets 6-3, 6-4!#IBI26 pic.twitter.com/QgMjjLPdEN

— wta (@WTA) May 7, 2026

Data Debrief: Gauff finds clay-court rhythm

Gauff has struggled for consistency in the clay-court swing so far, but with her French Open title defence edging closer, she will want to be in her groove before Roland-Garros.

She (30) is just the second player to claim 30 wins in clay WTA-1000 events before turning 23, after Iga Swiatek (33), since the format's introduction in 2009.

In fact, only Martina Hingis (154) has claimed more wins in Tier1/WTA-1000 events before turning 23 than Gauff (110) since the format's introduction.