Coco Gauff gets past Madison Keys to reach French Open semi-finals
A scruffy match featuring a combined 101 unforced errors and 14 breaks of serve ended 6-7 (6) 6-4 6-1 in favour of the world number two.
Gauff had previously not dropped a set as she quietly made her way through the friendlier side of the draw.
But in a nervy first set on both sides of the net, Gauff overturned a 4-1 deficit to force a set point at 5-4, only to be taken to a tie-break which Keys won.
Gauff went 4-1 up in the second but found herself pegged back, before a break and a hold took the match into a decider.
The confidence had drained from Australian Open champion Keys while Gauff finally located her serve, having coughed up nine double faults over the first two sets.
A pass down the line brought up three match points and the 21-year-old roared with delight when Keys went long, giving her the victory in two hours and 11 minutes.
"Maddie was playing well, she's hitting the ball so fast and so low so I was just trying to fight for each point," said Gauff, the runner-up at Roland Garros in 2022.
"I knew I had to be able to run today and as soon as the ball came short, punish her for it.
"It means a lot, getting through this tough match. I'm very happy to get through and be in the semi-finals again. I'll savour this one today and be ready for tomorrow's match."
Last night, defending French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz drew inspiration from his main rival and world number one Jannik Sinner to race past Tommy Paul in 94 minutes and reach the Roland Garros semi-finals.
Alcaraz gave a masterclass in attacking tennis to win the opening two sets in under an hour and overwhelmed the American 12th seed for a 6-0 6-1 6-4 win and a meeting with Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
The Spanish second seed's ruthless display came a day after Sinner beat Andrey Rublev in three sets to continue his devastating form at the year's second Grand Slam.
"I love to watch matches on my days off, and yeah, let's say he inspires me in some way just to give my 100% in every match," Alcaraz told reporters.
"He sees how important it is to play at such a great level in the whole match, just to have more time to recover after the match. So I'm just trying to do it as well.
"But for me, it's great to have tennis. I love Grand Slams for that because on my days off, I have great matches to watch and get inspired by watching them."
Alcaraz beat Musetti in the Monte Carlo final and the Rome semi-final en route to the title but expected a tough test when they face off again in Paris.
"It's going to be a beautiful battle, a beautiful match," Alcaraz added.
"I think we're both playing great tennis. Monte Carlo final, semis in Rome, so it's going to be great for the people to watch as well. I have to be ready for that match."
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