Coco Gauff outlasts Keys in three-set battle to reach semis
Paris: Second seed Coco Gauff weathered early racquet tension, scoreboard pressure, and a fierce challenge from fellow American Madison Keys to book her place in the semifinals of the 2025 French Open at the Stade Roland Garros.
The No. 2 seed rallied from a set down to win 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-1 in 2 hours and 11 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier, ending Keys' 11-match Grand Slam winning streak.
With the roof closed due to the chillier conditions, Gauff made a strategic adjustment by lowering her racquet tension — a decision she soon regretted. 'I changed [the tension] at 4-1, and after that, I had chances to win the first set,' Gauff said in her on-court interview with Mats Wilander. 'It's difficult to find the tension and how you want to play…I thought with the roof closed it would play slower, which it did in some moments, but I felt it was quick too. Also, I was playing Madison, so I don't know if that was the reason why!'
After a flurry of early unforced errors saw her go down a double break, Gauff adjusted both mentally and technically. She clawed her way back to lead 5-4 and even held a set point, but Keys saved it with a forehand winner. The seventh seed then capitalised on three double faults from Gauff in the tiebreak to sneak ahead.
But Gauff, the 2022 finalist in Paris, showed resilience. She took a 4-1 lead in the second set, only for Keys to come storming back and level things at 4-all. At that point, Gauff produced her shot of the day — a sublime angled backhand passing shot off a Keys smash — to break serve again and close out the set.
From there, the match was firmly in Gauff's grasp. With her groundstrokes under control and her tactics sharpened, she raced through the third set, winning 17 of the final 22 points. Her frequent use of the drop shot and improved movement left Keys searching for answers.
Statistically, it wasn't the cleanest affair — Gauff finished with 15 winners and 41 unforced errors, while Keys posted 25 winners and a costly 60 unforced errors. But it was the 21-year-old who found composure in the moments that mattered. In the deciding set, Gauff committed just two unforced errors, compared to 16 from Keys.
With the victory, Gauff levels her head-to-head with Keys at 3-3 and becomes the youngest player since Martina Hingis in 2000 to notch 25 career wins at Roland Garros. This marks her fifth career Grand Slam semifinal, three of which have come in Paris. Next up, Gauff will face either No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva or French wildcard Lois Boisson as she bids to reach a second final on the red clay of Paris.
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