Paris (AP) – Coco Gauff struggled with double faults and missed many shots, leading to a series of lost games. During this time, she could be seen sighing, bowing her head, and generally looking uneasy.
However, the 21-year-old Gauff never gave up hope during a tense quarterfinal match at the French Open against fellow American and Grand Slam champion Madison Keys. Despite a match filled with errors, Gauff rallied to win eight of the last nine games, securing victory with a score of 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1, and earning her third trip to the semifinals at Roland Garros.
“I’ve had this in me since I was a child,” said No. 2 seed Gauff, who won the 2023 US Open as a teenager and was the runner-up at the French Open the previous year. “When times get tough, I know I can dig deeper.”
Where does that determination come from?
“It’s my love for winning and the will to succeed. It’s not something I learned; it’s just innate. I’m competitive in everything I do, not just tennis,” she explained. “My philosophy is that if I can give it my all, the loss hurts less than regretting not fully committing.”
Gauff faced three double faults in the opening tiebreaker, dealing with the first set she lost in the tournament against the No. 7 seed, who boasts 11 Grand Slam titles after winning the Australian Open in January.
The match featured a staggering 101 unforced errors compared to just 40 winners over more than two hours under the closed roof of Cote Philippe Chatrier on a chilly, drizzly day.
Almost half of the match (14 out of 29) involved service breaks. However, from a 4-all tie in the second set, Gauff held serve four consecutive times to gain momentum. She forced two errors in the final set, including a double fault.
After trailing 4-1 and just one point away from being down 5-1, Gauff switched to a racket with different string tension to see if that might help her performance.
“It might have helped, but then again, it might not have. It could have been a mental thing,” she said. “Changing the racket might give you that mental boost, like ‘I’m going to play better now,’ and then you start focusing.”
She will compete in another major final on Thursday against Loïs Boisson, a 361-ranked French wildcard entry, who has made one of the most incredible runs in tennis history. Boisson defeated No. 6 Mirra Andreeva with a 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory in the quarterfinals, upsetting No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the round before.
At just 22 years old, Boisson is the first woman to reach the semifinals on her Grand Slam debut since 1989, when Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati made it to the French Open semis. The crowd was fervent in their support for Gauff during her match against Keys, with chants of “Allez, Coco!” echoing just as loudly as those behind Boisson rattling the 18-year-old Andreeva.
The other semifinal matchup features: three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek vs. No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who both secured their spots in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Swiatek was the one who defeated Gauff in last year’s semifinals and in the finals the year before at Roland Garros.
“There’s still more to achieve,” Gauff remarked, raising her arm overhead and spreading it wide after the final point. “I’m eager to savor this moment today.”
Once again, Gauff displayed her resilience, returning shots from Keys and often capitalizing on her opponent’s mistakes.
“The courts are starting to play a bit slower, and the way she covers the court puts pressure on me to take risks, maybe too soon,” Keys observed.
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Source: apnews.com