Coco Gauff comes from a set down to beat fellow American Madison Keys and reach French Open semifinals
Coco Gauff showed tremendous determination to come back from a set down to beat her fellow American Madison Keys and reach the French Open semifinals on Wednesday.
Gauff, 21, lost the opening set at Roland Garros in a nervy tiebreaker to Keys but bounced back emphatically to eventually win 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1, ending Keys' 11-match grand slam win streak.
Gauff will now face No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva or world No. 361 and crowd favorite Lois Boisson in the last four.
'I changed something at 4-1 in that first set and after that I had chances to win the set,' Gauff said on court afterwards. 'Madison was playing well, so I was just trying to get the ball deep and be aggressive, but it's tough because she was hitting the ball so fast and so low. I was just trying to fight for every point.
'She is obviously a very great player and her forehand is probably one of the best, if not the best, on tour. I was just trying my best to get it on the other side of the court, but she has a great inside-out and inside-in forehand.
'Honestly, I knew that I just had to be able to run today. As soon as the ball came short, I knew I had to punish her for it.'
Gauff, a losing finalist at the French Open three years ago, needed to show all her mettle to overcome the 2025 Australian Open champion.
It was Keys who raced into an early lead in the first set and, although Gauff was able to fight back, the 30-year-old found the necessary edge to take an early lead with her opponent missing a set point.
But Gauff looked much more assured in the second set, breaking Keys twice to put herself in front. But this time, it was Keys who came back, leveling the scores in the second set before Gauff broke once more and held serve to tie it at 1-1.
And in the deciding set, Gauff had finally found her stride, looking much more comfortable as she romped to a comfortable 6-1 set victory to take the match.
It was far from Gauff's most complete performance at Roland Garros – where she won the French Open doubles title last year – but she won't care as it books her spot in the semifinals.
'It means a lot, especially after getting through this tough match today,' the No. 2 seed said. 'It wasn't an easy match and I'm very happy to get through it.
'I'm just very excited to be back in the semifinals here again. I have a lot more work to do, but I'm going to savor this one today. I'll be ready for tomorrow's match.'
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