CELEBRITY
French Open: Gauff Recovers To Set Up Swiatek Semifinal Clash
American third seed Coco Gauff reached the French Open semi-finals after recovering to beat Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in an absorbing contest.
Gauff, 20, showed her maturity and mentality to win 4-6 6-2 6-3 at Roland Garros on Tuesday.
The US Open champion will play Polish top seed Iga Swiatek, who beat her in the 2022 final, in the last four on Thursday.
Swiatek continued her bid for a third straight title with a 6-0 6-2 win over Czech fifth seed Marketa Vondrousova.
After a superb opening set from eighth seed Jabeur, Gauff continued to believe in her game and took advantage of her opponent’s level dipping.
Gauff was unable to convert a match point on Jabeur’s serve at 5-2 in the decider, and survived a break point at 5-3, before getting over the line when her opponent dumped an overhead long.
A passionate roar as Gauff celebrated in the middle of the court indicated the magnitude of the test she had come through.
“She’s a tough opponent,” said Gauff, who saw Jabeur save a second match point before missing on the third.
“I was trying to be more aggressive, she was playing really well and hitting a lot of winners – which I’m not used to.
“I got a little bit tight but I did what I needed to do.”