Coco Gauff Achieves Rare French Open Feat Last Seen with Martina Hingis

Coco Gauff turned around a one-set deficit, and a 4-3 trail in the second to seal the victory over Madison Keys at the Roland Garros quarterfinals.

Coco Gauff Achieves Rare French Open Feat Last Seen with Martina Hingis

Coco Gauff, Martina Hingis (images via X)

After reaching the finals at Madrid and Rome this season, Coco Gauff has continued her excellent form on clay at the Roland Garros. In a riveting encounter, Gauff triumphed over fellow American Madison Keys in three sets at the Roland Garros quarterfinals. She turned around a one-set deficit, her only set dropped so far in the tournament, to fight back and seal the victory. 

This comeback victory not only adds another Grand Slam win to Gauff’s impressive resume but also allows her to match a milestone set by tennis legend Martina Hingis. Notably, 21-year-old Gauff is the youngest woman to achieve 25 victories in the main draw at Roland Garros after Hingis. 

With this win, Gauff secures her second consecutive appearance in the semifinals at Roland-Garros and her 5th career Grand Slam semifinal. She will be aiming for her maiden Roland Garros title. 

Coco Gauff earned a hard fought victory over Madison Keys

Madison Keys had the edge early, hitting a 160 km/h forehand winner, a gateway to a third consecutive break to start the match. Though Coco Gauff gained momentum briefly, Keys caught up soon. The 30-year-old’s tenth forehand winner got her to 5-6, 30-all. Keys added two more in the set, just enough to offset 19 unforced errors, and she clinched the tense tiebreak. 

Madison Keys
Madison Keys (via Instagram)

Despite losing the first set, Gauff continued her late-set momentum by taking a double-break lead of her own. Keys, however, shortly closed the gap, reclaiming both breaks with a well-executed approach to the net. Gauff soon scored another break on Keys’ serve and held on to force a deciding set.

It’s just I have always had that in me, and not just in tennis but in everything. I’m a very competitive person. My philosophy is if I can just leave it all out there, then the loss will hurt a lot less than regrets of maybe not giving it your all.

Opening with a break as Keys missed a forehand, Gauff dominated the decider set. Opening up another double-break advantage, Gauff nailed a deft drop shot to put herself in position for a 5-1 lead and eventually sealed the victory (7) 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-1. Their head-to-head is now leveled at 3-3. 

Coco Gauff will face French wildcard Lois Boisson at the Roland Garros semifinals

Coco Gauff will next face 361st-ranked Lois Boisson in the Roland Garros semifinals. The French wildcard has had an incredible debut at the Roland Garros, defeating two top 10 players, i.e., Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva, on her way to the semifinals. She had a spectacular straight-set victory over Andreeva in the quarterfinals. Boisson appears to be a fierce competitor who has been pushing her opponents to their limit.

Lois Boisson Roland Garros
Lois Boisson (image via X)

Many tennis enthusiasts would recall her from an earlier moment on tour this year, when Harriet Dart, her opponent at Open de Rouen, complained about Boisson’s odor and requested the umpire to ask her to put on deodorant. Boisson came back not just with a victory but with a hilarious reply to that comment by asking Dove on her Instagram story for a collaboration. 

Now Boisson is the first player in the Open Era to reach the women’s singles semi-finals at the Roland Garros as a wild card. She is assured of surging nearly 300 spots in the PIF WTA Rankings. After reaching a career high of No. 152 last year, a win over World No. 2 Gauff in the semifinals would push Boisson even higher.

Also Read: Aryna Sabalenka Claims Serena Williams ‘Wasn’t Really More Powerful’ Than Her After Reaching French Open Semifinal