Coco Gauff Will Face World No. 1 Iga Swiatek In The French Open Semifinals

Coco Gauff is into the French Open Final Four.

The top-ranked American woman and No. 3 seed came back from a set down to knock out No. 8 Ons Jabeur, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the Roland Garros semifinals. It is her second major semifinal of 2024 after reaching that round at the Australian Open.

“It means a lot to me,” Gauff said. “I’ve been trying to do better at being consistent in the big tournaments, and I’m reaching that level of consistency. [I’m]] very happy to reach the semifinal. Everybody knows I want to go all the way.”

Gauff is seeking to get back to the Roland Garros final, where she lost in straight sets to Iga Swiatek in 2o22.

But the U.S. Open champion will have to go through world No. 1 Swiatek to get there. Swiatek dominated No. 5 Markéta Vondroušová, 6-0, 6-2, in 62 minutes in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. It was her 19th straight victory at the French Open.

Swiatek, the world No. 1 and three-time Roland Garros champion, is the heavy betting favorite to win a fourth title. She is 10-1 against Gauff.

“With the Gauff that we’ve seen here so far, I know she’s only beaten Swiatek once, if Swiatek wins that next match, Gauff just seems like she’s at a different space competitively right now,” former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport said on Tennis Channel.

Chanda Rubin of Tennis Channel said Gauff’s serve will be a key factor in the match, but added: “It’s an uphill battle from the start [for Gauff] because of the dynamics of this clay court.”

Swiatek is coming off winning the Italian Open, where she didn’t drop a set and allowed a combined 12 games to Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka in the semis and finals.

In the decisive third set against Jabeur, Gauff earned an early break and then held for 4-1 with an overhand smash.

Serving for the match at 5-3, Gauff finally closed it out on her third match point when Jabeur shanked an easy forehand overhead wide.

Gauff improved to 5-2 overall against Jabeur, and 3-1 on clay.