United States's Coco Gauff plays a return to China's Qiang Wang during their second round match on day 5, of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, June 3, 2021. (CHRISTOPHE ENA / AP)

Coco Gauff reached the third round of the French Open for the first time as the 17-year-old American battled past China's Wang Qiang 6-3 7-6(1) on Thursday.

Gauff eased through the opening set after jumping out to a 3-0 lead but did not have things her own way after that against the player she beat to win the Parma title last month.

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Former world number 12 Qiang served for the second set at 5-3 but was broken and then had a set point on the Gauff serve after the American double-faulted.

But 24th-seeded Gauff showed great resilience to take the set into a tiebreak that she never looked like losing.

After two straight-sets wins she will now face either Fiona Ferro or fellow American Jennifer Brady in the last 32.