French Open: Coco Gauff of the United States overcame fellow countrywoman Sloane Stephens to go to the French Open semi-finals, where she will face unseeded Italian Martina Trevisan.
Gauff, who won her first clay-court title at the Emilia-Romagna Open last year, has grown fond of playing on the slow surface, and with a 7-5 6-2 triumph, she advanced to the final four of a Grand Slam for the first time.
“Even last year I was too focused on achieving other people’s expectations,” Gauff, who broke onto the spotlight by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon at the age of 15, said. Regardless of how successful or unsuccessful my work has been, I believe I am a wonderful person.
“Your results or your job or how much money you make doesn’t define you as a person.”
In a one-sided start, the teenager rushed to a 5-2 lead, but Sloane Stephens, the US Open winner in 2017 and a finalist in Paris the following year, fought back to square the match at 5-5.
Gauff, who had not dropped a set on her way to the final four, rallied just in time to take the first set by winning eight of the next nine points.
She went up 3-1 after another break, and she returned practically everything Stephens gave her.
Rather than serving out the match, she double-faulted twice more, giving her opponent a small reprieve before winning the next game on Stephens’ serve.
Coco considers graduation from high school to be more important than placing in the semi-finals.
Gauff argued that clearing her exams was more difficult than reaching the Roland Garros semi-finals.
She completed her high school education while in Paris, juggling her studies with life on the WTA Tour.
“Was it more difficult to graduate? Yes, since I remember how difficult it was to balance school and tennis on the road “I’m the 18th seed,” remarked the 18th seed.
“Other players, in general, get out of sight with life and we think tennis is the most important thing in the world. It is not.
“So getting my high-school diploma meant a lot to me.”
For tennis tournament. tennis live score, tennis championship, tennis live update, tennis court, latest tennis news and other tennis news follow livematchupdatesnews.com.
