Midday Sports News for 5 June 2025
Three-time champion Novak Djokovic has kept up his quest for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title, battling past third seed Alexander Zverev in four sets to set up a French Open semi-final against top seed Jannik Sinner.
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Coco Gauff ends Loïs Boisson's miracle French Open run
As popular as Coco Gauff is, she knew full well that nearly all of the 15,000 fans at Court Philippe-Chatrier would be against her during the French Open semifinals overnight. That's because Gauff, an American, was taking on a French opponent — and one who came from nowhere, 361st-ranked Loïs Boisson. So the No. 2-seeded Gauff turned to a trick that 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic has talked about using: When the partisan crowd was loudly singing Boisson's first name, Gauff pretended they were chanting "Coco!" Not that it mattered much, truly, because Gauff was by far the superior player throughout a 6-1, 6-2 victory that earned her a second trip to the final at Roland-Garros. Parliament punishment, free money?, getting wicked again (Source: 1News) ADVERTISEMENT Three years ago, Gauff missed out on a chance to leave with the trophy when Iga Swiatek beat her. This time, Swiatek won't be around for the championship match on Saturday, because her 26-match unbeaten run at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament ended earlier Thursday with a 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 loss to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka vs. Gauff will be the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 final in Paris since 2013, when Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, and just the second in the last 30 years. Coco Gauff of the US reacts as she plays against France's Lois Boisson during their semifinal match of the French Tennis Open. (Source: Associated Press) Gauff figures to hear at least the occasional "Allez, Coco!" while meeting Sabalenka. But that wasn't really in the offing against Boisson, who beat No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 6 Mirra Andreeva while becoming the first woman since 1989 to get all the way to the semifinals in her first Grand Slam tournament. It's been a quarter-century since a woman representing France won the singles title at Roland-Garros — Mary Pierce in 2000 — so Boisson became front-page news. The flags flapping in the stands, and the raucous applause and yells accompanying each point Boisson won, were hard to miss. "I was mentally prepared before the match that it was going to be 99% for her. But I just tried to block it out," Gauff told the spectators during her on-court interview, laughing as she explained her thought process. "And actually, when you guys were chanting her name, I was saying to myself my name. Just to kind of psych myself out. You have to do that." ADVERTISEMENT Then she added: "I know you guys would usually root for me if I'm not playing a French [foe]." Gauff never really allowed the atmosphere to become much of a factor, because she took Boisson out of the match from the get-go, grabbing 20 of the first 30 points to lead 4-0. As much as Boisson's game is fit for clay, Gauff is rather adept on the slower surface, too. Her speed and reflexes allow her to track down shot after shot, elongating points and making the player across the net come up with the goods over and over. Boisson finished with just seven winners. And Gauff made only 15 unforced errors, fewer than half of Boisson's total of 33. When the exchanges grew longer, Gauff got better. She won 34 of 51 points that lasted five strokes or more. "Congratulations to her on an incredible tournament," Gauff said, "but today just happened to be my day".

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Laser-focused Gauff ends Boisson's dream run to reach French Open final
American tennis play Coco Gauff Photo: © Dante Badano / PsnewZ 2025 Coco Gauff ended local heroine Lois Boisson's dream run at the French Open as the American kept her cool in a fiery atmosphere to earn a ruthless 6-1 6-2 victory on Thursday, setting up a blockbuster final with top seed Aryna Sabalenka. Laser-focused, the world number two subdued the French wild card and the home crowd to speed through the contest on Court Philippe Chatrier and reach the Roland Garros final for the second time after she lost to Iga Swiatek in 2022. Boisson, ranked 361st with only two career matches on the main tour coming into the claycourt major, had downed world number three Jessica Pegula and Russian prodigy Mirra Andreeva in the previous rounds but she looked deflated against Gauff. The 22-year-old will, however, pocket a career-changing 690,000 euros (NZ$1.3 million) in prize money, while Gauff, 21, will have the chance to secure her second Grand Slam title after winning the 2023 US Open. Gauff, who can become the first American since Serena Williams in 2015 to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup, clearly shifted up a gear after beating compatriot Madison Keys in an error-strewn quarter-final on Wednesday. Boisson will climb up to 65th in the WTA rankings, which will all but guarantee her direct entry into the main draw at Grand Slams and top-tier events. Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka. Photo: Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse / PHOTOSPORT Meanwhile, world number one Aryna Sabalenka battled past four-times champion Iga Swiatek which ended the Pole's reign in Paris and snapped her 26-game winning streak in the tournament. The Belarusian's power proved too much for the defending champion, who was looking to become the first female player in the Open era since 1968 to win four consecutive titles in Paris. Swiatek had won the previous three editions along with her maiden crown in 2020. -Reuters