Sloane Stephens sent Coco Gauff spinning out of the US Open – then joined the clamour to stop toilet break "gamesmanship" in tennis.
In Wednesday's opening night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, former champion Stephens took the fast route past world number 23 Gauff, speeding to a 6-4 6-2 victory.
Now ranked 66th, Stephens won at Flushing Meadows in 2017 and was tipped by Gauff to challenge for the title again this year. By beating Madison Keys and now Gauff, Stephens is showing she still has major game, and another former champion in Angelique Kerber could be her third-round opponent.
Gauff, now 17, has known Stephens for over seven years, having attended the now 28-year-old's 21st birthday party.
But the American pair put friendship to one side for their showdown, with Gauff, who had been fancied by many to go deep this fortnight, having her threat stifled by an in-form Stephens.
"I think the last time we hit, she was probably like 12. It was a little bit different," Stephens said afterwards.
"It's just been really nice to see her game kind of evolve and the things that she's doing, like how she's able to turn so much defense into offense and kind of do those movements. She is great at the net. She has a really great all-around game. It's been really nice to see.
"She's different from a lot of the up-and-coming players we're seeing now that are just super hard hitting, not much variety. She has a lot of variety. I think a lot of the younger girls, there's half that are very hard hitting and half that have a lot of variety. I think she's in the bucket with a lot of variety."
Gauff was asked whether Stephens could now be considered a title contender and replied: "Yeah, definitely. Today she was playing well. I knew these last couple of tournaments she's been playing better and better. I hope that she can make it all the way to the end.
"Obviously if you are going to lose, you want to lose to the champion. I think that I feel like I've learned that I'm capable of making it far in slams. I think if I tighten up a few things, that I'm capable of winning one."
The debate over toilet breaks in tennis was sparked by Andy Murray being furious with Stefanos Tsitsipas for spending eight minutes in the bathroom before tackling the Scot in the deciding set of their first-round match.
Murray, frustrated to be left waiting for his opponent to reappear, followed up his Monday night fury with a tweet that charged Tsitsipas with taking twice as long to visit the toilet as Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos took to travel into space.
There was no such spat in Stephens' quickfire win over Gauff, but the rules on spending a penny have been the currency of many a news conference this week.
"I honestly just thought Andy's tweet was really funny," said Stephens. "I didn't see exactly what happened. I'm not sure. I just thought it was hilarious. We all are like huge Andy fans. We love him.
"I can't speak for what happened in that match, but I do know on the girl's side, there still is a lot of that. It's gamesmanship.
"I think there definitely needs to be a rule or changes. They make a lot of rule changes for smaller things, like they took one minute off the warm-up. If someone goes to the bathroom for nine minutes, no one says anything.
"Six, eight minutes is a long time to leave a match. That changes the whole momentum of a match. If you're changing your clothes, what are you changing? What are you doing in there?
"When you get into six, seven, eight, nine minutes, okay, what are you doing in there? Do you need help? I can come help you. Like, what's happening? I think that's more where the issues are because it just becomes pure gamesmanship."
Swiatek searching for French Open adaptation despite quarter-final progression
Iga Swiatek continues to dominate at the French Open, but the world number one is still learning to adapt to testing Roland-Garros conditions.
The four-time major winner coasted into the quarter-finals in Paris, hammering Anastasia Potapova 6-0 6-0 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Swiatek is only the third player in the Open Era to claim 6-0 6-0 victories at Roland-Garros in consecutive years, after Gabriela Sabatini (1992-93) and Mary Pierce (1993-94)
The triumph against world number 41 Potapova lasted just over 40 minutes, with Swiatek completely "in the zone" but perplexed by challenging conditions in the French capital.
"It felt the same but I was really focused and in the zone," she said on court. "I wasn't looking at the score so I continued working on my game.
"It was pretty weird, because of the fact we played really early, we felt the temperature would be similar.
"It doesn't feel like summer in Europe. We'll see what the weather is going to be like. The forecast is not precise. We'll see and we're good at adjusting."
Swiatek remains on course for her third consecutive French Open title and fourth in five years.
She won 48 of 58 points on Sunday, and is the first woman to record victory in 18 straight matches at a major since Serena Williams won the 2014 US Open.
After taking the titles in Madrid and Rome, Swiatek also has 16 consecutive wins overall – yet she is still seeking improvements.
"I'll use my coach's experience," she added. "He's more confident than me with my strings.
"The wind bounces, I have got used to it. I have a person who was a sailor in my team so we're good with that."
Swiatek hammers Potapova to breeze into French Open quarter-finals
Iga Swiatek cruised into the French Open quarter-finals after thrashing Anastasia Potapova in a straight-sets victory on Sunday.
The world number one survived a third-round scare in a three-set thriller with Naomi Osaka, but had little trouble in making the last eight at Roland-Garros.
Swiatek did not drop a game en route to her fourth-round demolition of world number 41 Potapova on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
An expectant Paris crowd was treated to one-way traffic as Swiatek claimed the first set in 20 minutes, condemning Potapova to the dreaded bagel.
Further pain followed for Potapova as Swiatek wrapped up a 6-0 6-0 victory in just 41 minutes after a clay-court hammering.
Swiatek's victory sets up a quarter-final meeting with either Olga Danilovic or Marketa Vondrousova, the latter the fifth seed in the French capital.
Data Debrief: Swiatek on fire
Swiatek is now only the third player in the Open Era to claim 6-0 6-0 victories at Roland-Garros in consecutive years, after Gabriela Sabatini (1992-93) and Mary Pierce (1993-94).
The Pole has also claimed 13.6 per cent of her total sets played on clay at WTA level by a score of 6-0. Among players with 10+ 6-0 sets on the surface since 2000, that is the highest rate of any player in completed matches.
Djokovic labels Musetti thriller as his greatest French Open showing
Novak Djokovic was in the mood for partying after surviving a thriller against Lorenzo Musetti, describing the performance as his greatest French Open showing.
The world number one battled long into the Paris night to secure a 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 2-6 6-3 6-0 victory in four hours and 29 minutes across Saturday and into Sunday.
The third-round marathon finished at 3:08 a.m. local time at Roland-Garros, shattering the tournament's previous latest finish of 1:25 a.m.
This victory also saw Djokovic equal Roger Federer (369) for the most major singles match wins of any male or female player in the Open Era.
"He played a fantastic match and came very close to victory," Djokovic said on court.
"I was in great difficulties but thanks to your support in the fourth set, I became a different player. It was perhaps the best match I have played here."
A stunning fightback also marked Djokovic's 36th five-set win at grand slams – the most of any player in the Open Era.
The 24-time major champion next faces Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo, who advanced to the fourth round for the second consecutive year.
Yet before that, the Serbian wanted to celebrate.
"Who's going to sleep now?" Djokovic added. "It's impossible to sleep, so much adrenaline. If you're having a party, I'm coming."
Djokovic must reach the final in the French capital to remain at the top of the ATP rankings, though Jannik Sinner would overtake him regardless if he reaches the showpiece.
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