Roland Garros 2024: Gauff roars back to beat Jabeur; Swiatek next in SFs

For the third straight Grand Slam, Coco Gauff is a women's singles semifinalist. After winning her maiden major title at the 2023 US Open and reaching the final four at this year's Australian Open, the American beat Ons Jabeur on Tuesday to reach the 2024 Roland Garros semis.

With a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory, the 20-year-old became just the sixth player to reach multiple Paris semifinals before turning 21. In 2022, at the age of 18, Gauff reached her first Grand Slam final at the same event.

On that occasion, she was overwhelmed by Iga Swiatek, who claimed her second Roland Garros title with a 6-1, 6-3 win. The Polish world No. 1 again beat Gauff in Paris last season en route to her third crown at the clay-court Slam.

With both women advancing to this year's semis, the stage is now set for a rematch on Thursday. Gauff trails the head-to-head 10-1, but enters this meeting full of confidence as a fellow Grand Slam titlist.

"I definitely think I have to find a better way to play her than the last times I played on clay, because I've obviously been unsuccessful the last couple of times we've played, regardless of the surface and anything," said the third seed, who was turned back by the Pole in on the clay courts of Rome last month.

"She's definitely a tough opponent for me and for anybody. I think for me, I just have to go back and watch and try to find what I have to do. I think she's playing great tennis here, so it's going to be a challenge, but I'm going to go into the match with a lot of belief that I can [win]. I'm going to try to get a plan from my team and then also my own plan and see where we can find a blend."

Gauff had cruised into the Roland Garros quarters before dropping her first set of the fortnight against Jabeur. Swiatek's biggest test came in the second round, when she saved a match point to escape Naomi Osaka, 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-5. But the Pole rattled off three consecutive 6-0 sets across the fourth round (vs. Anastasia Potapova) and the quarters (vs. Marketa Vondrousova). Gauff is unfazed by that dominant stretch.

"I can't think of past players. Potapova isn't me. I'm not Vondrousova," she said. "It doesn't mean anything. Maybe I could lose with the same score, maybe not, but I'm just going to go in and just try to win. I have nothing to lose. All the pressure is on her."

For her part, Swiatek is not expecting another bakery scoreline against the American. Like Gauff, Swiatek secured her first major title as a 19-year-old, when she won the 2020 French Open. Two years later, she debuted at world No. 1 in April 2022.