FRENCH OPEN: COCO GAUFF REACHES SEMI-FINALS WITH STIRRING COMEBACK VICTORY OVER ONS JABEUR AT ROLAND-GARROS

Coco Gauff is into the semi-finals of the French Open after she came from a set down to beat Ons Jabeur 4-6 6-2 6-3.
The American third seed started slowly as her Tunisian opponent flew out of the blocks with some huge hitting, but Gauff rallied and roared back in a tense second set, and much less close third, to reach the last four.

However, Gauff turned the aggressor at 2-1 in the second set, stepping in to unleash her brilliant backhand and notch a break of her own.
Jabeur broke back immediately, but Gauff’s advantage was restored to love in the following game, with the American building on her 4-2 lead to stave off a late fightback from the world No. 9 to reach the semi-final stage in Paris for a second time.
Gauff, a finalist at Roland-Garros in 2022, will face Iga Swiatek or Marketa Vondrousova in the last four.

The opening games set the tone for how equal this match would be, with both players conjuring superb winners and lung-busting rallies to delight the Parisian crowd.
Gauff was put under immediate pressure in the opening game as Jabeur threatened an early break, but the American held firm with some authoritative serving.
The pair continued to trade service holds until the seventh game, when Jabeur began to come into her own and find her groove; really hitting the depths of the court off both flanks, including a delicious backhand winner with both feet off the ground to pile on the pressure at deuce.

A couple of errors from Gauff ceded the break, and the momentum was with the Tunisian, who was in the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros for the second time.

She sought to tighten the screw in Gauff’s following service game, trying to close out the set early, but the American dug her heels in, forcing the world No. 9 to serve it out.

Gauff started the second in the perfect vein, a smash put-away boosting her confidence, but Jabeur’s box of tricks was still very much open as she produced a sumptuous lob and drop-shot in the opening game.
However, a huge blunder from Jabeur at 40-30 in the fourth game was the big turning point, as she tried to boom a backhand back from whence it came, instead of simply striking into the open court for the hold. That turned up the heat on last year’s Wimbledon finalist, as Gauff began to step in and rip her groundstrokes more to score the break of serve.

Errors began to ransack Jabeur’s game as Gauff closed out the set 6-2, scoring a second break to love at 4-2, and the momentum was very much with the US Open champion in the decider, with Jabeur somewhat off-colour.
Two big, looping forehands from Gauff were what sealed her break at 3-1 in the third, and further mistakes from Jabeur were what saw her exit Roland-Garros at the quarter-final stage for the second year running, as a missed smash put-away on top of the net converted Gauff’s fourth match point.

She’s a tough opponent and she’s well-loved on tour,” Gauff said afterwards.
“I can tell by the crowd that [they] wanted her to win. When she’s playing, I cheer for her too. Thank you guys for making it a good atmosphere. The people up there made it really fun for me.
“I like playing in environments like this, even though you guys were for Ons. I had a lot of fun even when I lost the first set, and they were chanting. When I was in the bathroom, I was like, ‘This is really fun, win or lose.’.

There were two people behind my bench cheering for me. Not loudly, but I could hear them and it helped me. I know I have a lot of love here in Paris. Trust me, I know. I really appreciate it, and hopefully you guys can help me make it through the next round.
“I was definitely trying to be more aggressive. She was playing really well the whole match, and she was hitting a lot of winners on me, which is something I’m not used to against anybody.

“Today, I was just trying to be aggressive towards the end. I got a bit tight on the last couple of match points. I think I did what I needed to do to win the match.”