Coco Gauff yesterday huffed and puffed into the French Open semi-finals with a 6-7(6) 6-4 6-1 victory against fellow American Madison Keys in a match both players would be quick to forget as they broke the 100-unforced errors barrier.
More than half of Gauff’s points came from Australian Open champion Keys’ soft mistakes and the world No. 2 two got away with a total of 10 double faults.
The 21-year-old will need to make dramatic adjustments when she faces either France’s Lois Boisson or Russian sixth seed Mirra Andreeva for a place in Sunday’s final.
Photo: AFP
Keys, who was looking to reach the last four at Roland Garros for the second time after 2018, bowed out with her 60th unforced error to end a forgettable contest.
“I’m happy to get through this match today, I have a lot more work to do, I’ll be ready tomorrow,” Gauff said. “I changed something at 4-1 [in the first set]. It’s tough to play against her, because she hits the ball so fast, so low, I was just trying to fight for every point ... to get the ball to the other side of the net.”
Gauff, who reached the final here in 2022, is the youngest woman to claim 25 main-draw wins at Roland Garros since Martina Hingis.
The opening set was a scrappy affair, with the first three games going against serve.
Keys secured the first hold to lead 3-1, and broke again before Gauff clawed back a break and held for the first time to close the gap to 4-3.
In a flurry of breaks, Gauff leveled at 4-4 and held once more to edge ahead, putting the pressure on Keys, who saved a set point to force a tiebreak.
While the quality was patchy at best, the drama was undeniable, with momentum swinging wildly. In the end, Keys edged the tiebreak as Gauff double-faulted three times, handing the opener to her opponent.
Things did not get better in the second set.
“So many unforced errors,” Gauff said on court, in one of the understatements of the season.
She leveled the contest as Keys looked out of sorts and cantered through the decider.
Three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek set up a blockbuster semi-final clash with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Tuesday, as reigning men’s holder Carlos Alcaraz powered his way into the last four.
Alcaraz blew away American 12th seed Tommy Paul for the loss of just five games in the night session on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The Spaniard needed just one hour 34 minutes to dismantle Paul 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 and set up a last-four meeting with Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti.
“I’m sorry, you wanted to watch more tennis, I had to do my work,” Alcaraz told the crowd. “It was one of those matches where I could close my eyes and everything went in. It was like my feeling today was unbelievable.”
Earlier, Swiatek, the fifth seed, got past Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-1, 7-5, after top women’s seed Sabalenka won a tense quarter-final against Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
World No. 5 Swiatek has been struggling for her best form and has not reached a final since winning the French Open title last year.
However, she gave 13th seed Svitolina little opportunity on her favored clay surface, breaking in the fourth game to ease through the first set, in windy conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The pair exchanged consecutive breaks of serve early in the second set, before Swiatek forced the breakthrough at 5-5 with a powerful forehand down the line.
She then sealed the win with back-to-back aces.
“Even though the first set, the score looks pretty straightforward, it wasn’t,” Swiatek said. “I had to fight for every point.”
Swiatek is aiming to become the first woman to win four straight Roland Garros crowns since Suzanne Lenglen 102 years ago.
“[Aryna] has been having a great season, so I’m not going to lie, it is going to be a tough match, but I’m happy for the challenge,” Swiatek said, after reeling off her 26th win in a row at the French Open.
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