Coco Gauff sat in her transition chair at Roland-Garros after falling one set away from her first Grand Slam final at 18 — just 18! — and calmly nibbled on chunks of pineapple and other cut fruit, seemingly oblivious to the world.
Her opponent in Thursday’s semi-final at Roland Garros, Martina Trevisan, was taking a medical time-out so her right thigh could be treated and recorded by a trainer. It was the kind of delay that could rattle some players, cause them to calm down, lose momentum, and overthink what was at stake.
On this sunny and windy afternoon at Court Philippe Chatrier. When the American arrived in Paris, she celebrated her recent high school graduation by posing for photos in a cap and gown near the Eiffel Tower while holding her diploma. After claiming a 6-3, 6-1 win over 59th-placed Trevisan, Gauff will return to this stadium on Saturday to face No.1 Iga Swiatek for the Championship.
Gauff, who is ranked 18th and turned 18 in March, is the youngest finalist at the clay major since 2001 when Kim Clijsters was runner-up the day after her 18th birthday.
Gauff has won all 12 sets she has contested over the past two weeks. She didn’t have to walk the hardest road to get here: due to all sorts of surprising results and early exits from the best players in the group, she only faced one seed until ‘now No. 31 Elise Mertens.
Now comes someone who will present a much more difficult test and demand a higher level of quality. Swiatek is not only already a Grand Slam champion – she won the French Open in 2020 – but is unbeaten in her last 34 matches, having knocked out No.20 Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday.
The men’s semi-finals are on Friday, with 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal facing No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev, and 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic facing No. 8 Casper. Ruud.
Swiatek has won her last five tournaments, her last loss in February to 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. The only Polish player to win a major tennis singles title is now on a winning streak equal to that of Serena Williams in 2013. The single longest streak this century was a 35-match unbeaten streak against Venus Williams in 2000.
Swiatek and Kasatkina were even 2-all, but Swiatek went on to win 10 of the last 11 games.
Gauff and Trevisan were even 3-all, but Gauff went on to win nine of the last 10 games.
