Coco Gauff is into the semi-finals of the 2024
French Open after taking down Ons Jabeur in a superb opening Quarter-Final in the women’s draw on Tuesday morning 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Gauff quipped afterwards that the crowd wanted Jabeur to win and that was certainly the case as the Tunisian led by a set in pursuit of a shock win. But now Iga Swiatek likely awaits again for Gauff. Her record against the World No.1 is poor and it will stand in the way of her and another Grand Slam final.
But Gauff showed real grit and determination to weather the storm posed by Jabeur. The latter won the opening set in a tight affair to begin 6-4. But it was all Gauff from there who started to get better and better. She took the second set 6-2 as Jabeur simply couldn’t maintain her level.
Jabeur only rallied again at the end where she saved multiple match points before finally succumbing to the World No.3. A real positive fortnight for Jabeur who was in the tennis doldrums for a long time. But ahead of the grass season, typically her favourite surface it is positives.
For Gauff, it is a fourth consecutive semi-final in a Grand Slam and another chance for a title. The American continues to get better and better but likely faces a Swiatek type roadblock.
To begin the tie, Jabeur pulled off a drop shot return and a drop shot pass combination to break Gauff for the first time. She followed that up with a hold including three clean winners and finished her set win off with an ace. Truly special from Jabeur. She had a great highlight reel but also committed 10 unforced errors to 12 winners which proved to be her undoing.
Gauff managed to take advantage going into the next set as she raised her game and broke for the first time. She cleaned up the errors that littered her opening set. She reduced the count from 14 to six and seven in the third. She dropped just seven points on serve from 4-2 up in the second set to 5-2 in the third over the course of a set. Jabeur continued to show brilliance but it wasn't sustained throughout the tie and that proved to be what set Gauff apart.