Coco Gauff overcame some emphatic play from Ons Jabeur to seal a place in the last four of the French Open for only the second time in her career.
Gauff, who is the reigning US Open champion, recovered from a set down to beat the Tunisian 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, on the Philippe Chatrier court. The American was outplayed early on in the rollercoaster encounter before battling back to victory by winning 12 out of the last 15 games played in the match. She has now won 30 matches this season and extends her winning head-to-head record against Jabeur to 5-2.
In her latest clash, 20-year-old Gauff hit 21 winners and capitalised on her rival’s unforced error count of 38.
“She’s a tough opponent and she’s well-loved on Tour. I could tell the crowd today wanted her to win. Honestly, whenever I’m not playing, I cheer for her too,” Gauff said in tribute to Jabeur.
“The people up there (in the stands) made it fun for me. I like playing in environments like this. Even though you guys are pro-Ons I had a lot of fun.
“Even when I lost the first set and they were chanting when I was in the bathroom. I was like this is really fun – win or lose.”
Compared to their previous meeting at the 2023 WTA Finals where she won only one game, Jabeur was a completely different player as she pilled the pressure on Gauff straight away with the American coming through a six-minute opening service game. Her technique was a combination of hitting deep towards the baseline and then producing delicate drop shots to frustrate her opponent. Jabeur broke for the first time in the seventh game with the help of a Gauff backhand error to move ahead 4-3. Showing no visible signs of nerves, she closed the set out in under 40 minutes with an ace down the centre of the court.
Gauff, whose previous three losses at Roland Garros were to players who went on to win the title, finally generated some momentum early on in the second frame at the expanse of some loose hitting from an increasingly erratic Jabeur. Three consecutive breaks in her favour guided the world No.3 to drawing level in the match.
Continuing to weather the storm, she inflicted her final blow four games into the decider after back-to-back Jabeur errors from the backhand side handed her another break for a 3-1 lead. The eighth seed continued to produce glimmers of her impressive shotmaking but they were not consistent enough to stop Gauff in her tracks. Serving for the match, she recovered from a 0-30 deficit and then saved a break point before sealing victory after a Jabeur smash landed out.
“I was trying to be more aggressive, she was playing well the whole match.” Said Gauff.
“She hit a lot of winners against me which was something that I was not used to. I got a bit tight in the last couple of match points but I did what I needed to do to win the match.”
Gauff heads into the semi-finals having dropped just one set in five matches played. A former champion in the junior tournament back in 2018, she is bidding to become the first American to win the trophy since Serena Williams in 2015.
The third seed is the youngest player to reach three or more consecutive Women’s Singles semi-finals at Grand Slam events since Maria Sharapova. She is also only the second woman since 2000 to claim 20+ wins at Roland Garros before turning 21 after Iga Swiatek. A player who she could play in the next round.
