Coco Gauff Beats Sloane Stephens To Reach First Grand Slam Singles Semifinal

Coco Gauff has advanced to her first Grand Slam singles semifinal and she did it at the expense of another American.

The 18-year-old Gauff defeated 2018 French Open finalist Sloane Stephens, 7-5, 6-2, to set up a semifinal meeting with unseeded Italian Martina Trevisan, who defeated U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in three sets.

In their only previous meeting, Trevisan shocked Gauff in the second round at Roland Garros two years ago, en route to the Italian’s breakthrough quarterfinal showing as a qualifier.

The victory over Stephens avenged her straight-sets loss in their only previous meeting, at last year’s U.S. Open.

Gauff has yet to drop a set during this French Open and none of her matches have taken longer than 90 minutes.

A year ago, Gauff reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals, losing in straight sets to eventual champion Barbora Krejčíková.

“Last year in the quarterfinals was a tough loss for me,” Gauff said. “I think that match made me stronger, better prepared for moments like today and the moments I’ll face in the next round.”

She added:”Even last year I was too focused on fulfilling other people’s expectations. No matter how good or ‘bad’ my career is, I think I’m a great person. … Your results or your job or how much money you make doesn’t define you as a person.”

This was Stephens’s third Roland Garros quarterfinal, and she is up to 32 match-wins at the French Open, which is her highest total of victories at any of the Grand Slams.

However, Gauff has started her own record of excellence at the majors. By returning to the quarterfinals after her run to that round last year, Gauff became the first woman to reach multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals before turning 19 since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007.

Gauff excelled returning the Stephens second serve, where she won 11 of 13 points (85 percent). Gauff used her dominance there to convert six of her 10 break points, while Stephens went 3-for-9 on her break chances.

Gauff set the tone early by taking charge in lengthy points, quickly breaking Stephens in the second game behind rally forehands. However, when Gauff served for the set at 5-3, Stephens refused to miss and grabbed control, pulling back on serve.

Gauff, though, reclaimed momentum at 6-5, reaching triple set point after using outstanding defense to draw a swing volley error from Stephens. Two points later, Gauff clinched the set with a backhand winner.

Gauff dropped serve in the opening game of the second set but went on a five-game tear after that to serve for the match at 5-1. Two double faults in that game contributed to a service break, but Gauff claimed the win in the following game with a routine break.

Now she is one win away from the final.