Coco Gauff is heading back to the French Open semifinals after a tough three-set battle against fellow American Madison Keys on Wednesday. The second-seeded Gauff, who’s just 21, pulled out a 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-1 win. They had to close the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier because of the rain in Paris.
The match was a bit of a rollercoaster, with both players struggling to find consistency. They racked up a combined 101 unforced errors. Between them, the players only managed 40 winners. Gauff had some trouble with her serve, hitting 10 double faults and losing her first set of the whole tournament. She bounced back in the second set. Then, she really took control in the third, winning eight of the last nine games.
“I was just trying to fight for every point,” Gauff said after the match. “I still have a lot of work to do, but I’m definitely going to enjoy this one today.”
This victory makes Gauff the youngest woman to rack up 25 main-draw wins at Roland Garros since Martina Hingis did it between 1995 and 2000. That’s some impressive company!
Next up, Gauff will face either No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva or French wild card Loïs Boisson in the semifinals. She’s got a perfect 4-0 record against Andreeva, including two wins this year, but she’s never played Boisson before.
On the other side of the bracket, we’ve got a blockbuster semifinal match between the current three-time French Open champ, Iga Swiatek. She competes against Aryna Sabalenka, the world’s top-ranked player. Swiatek has been a roadblock for Gauff at Roland Garros in the past. She beat her in the semifinals last year and in the final back in 2022.
Gauff, who won the US Open in 2023 and was the French Open runner-up in 2022, is still chasing that elusive Roland Garros title. She’s hoping to become the first American woman to win the French Open since Serena Williams did it in 2015.
