Gauff gets past Jabeur, to face Swiatek in Roland-Garros semi-finals

American Coco Gauff, the No 3 seed, moved into the semi-finals of Roland-Garros by beating Tunisian Ons Jabeur, the No 8 seed, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 at Roland-Garros in Paris on Tuesday.

Gauff, ranked No 3, will play the winner of the match between Pole Iga Swiatek, the top seed, and No 5 seed Marketa Vondrousova next.

It comes with several milestone markers – she is only the third American woman in the Open Era to reach multiple semi-finals at Roland Garros before the age of 21, along with Chris Evert and Andrea Jaeger; she is the second woman since the turn of the millennium to claim more than 20 match wins at Roland Garros before turning 21, along with Iga Swiatek; and at the age of 20 years and 82 days, she is the youngest woman to reach three or more consecutive singles semi-finals at Grand Slam events since Maria Sharapova – four between Wimbledon 2006 and Roland Garros 2007

Ahead of her victory, the 20-year-old American won against Russian qualifier Julia Avdeeva (6-1, 6-1), Slovenian qualifier Tamara Zidansek (6-3, 6-4), Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, the No 30 seed (6-2, 6-4) and Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto (6-1, 6-2).

“It means a lot to me,” Gauff commented. “I’ve been trying to do better at being consistent in the big tournaments and I’m reaching that level of consistency. Obviously (I’m) very happy to reach the semi-final. Sure, everybody knows I want to go all the way.

“She played really well, honestly, the whole match — but especially the first set. I think the first three games I don’t even think I saw asecond serve. When you lose a set like that, it’s kind of just you just try to brush it off. It’s kind of just like, ‘if she can sustain this level the whole match, she deserves it.’ If my level doesn’t rise, then I deserve to lose. 

“I knew I had to raise my level, and I think because I raised my level I just started to play more aggressive and not letting her dictate me off the court.”

Jabeur: I’ll learn from this one

Jabeur, ranked No 9, previously beat American wildcard Sachia Vickery (6-3, 6-2), Colombian Camila Osorio (6-3, 1-6, 6-3), Canadian Leylah Fernandez, the No 31 seed (6-4, 7-6 (5)) and Dane Clara Tauson (6-4, 6-4).

And she was not too disappointed with her performance, she said afterward.

“I think the first set I was more solid on my legs, and especially I think my forehand side, that helped me a lot. I was expecting her to play, you know, better after, in the second set and the third set, but it was, like, really couple of moments that I missed, was really frustrating.

“I think the first break was not meant to be, I’ve got to say. I had my chances. Not like she really played like a good returning game or anything. Yeah, after, I felt like she took the advantage and fly away with the set. But third set, it was very difficult. You know, I felt like I had chances to come back. But, yeah, it is what it is. It’s very tough, but hopefully I will learn from this one.”

Paris (Grand Slam), other last eight results:

• Mirra Andreeva vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Jasmine Paolini vs. Elena Rybakina
• Iga Swiatek vs. Marketa Vondrousova

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