Gauff and Trevisan advance to French Open semifinal (Gallery)
Coco Gauff reaches her first Grand Slam semifinal
May 31, 2022
PARIS — Coco Gauff left Roland Garros 12 months ago crestfallen, knowing she let a big lead slip away in her major quarterfinal debut. She vowed to remember that and learn from it.
Consider that done.
Gauff, still only 18, returned to that stage Tuesday for a second time and was not about to let this tournament end similarly, beating 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up Sloane Stephens 7-5, 6-2 in a matchup between Americans at Court Philippe Chatrier to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.
“It was just a mental challenge today,” said Gauff, who began this trip to Paris by taking photos near the Eiffel Tower while holding her recently earned high school diploma. Gauff seems to have been preparing for this sort of moment for quite some time, even before she became the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history at age 15 and beat Venus Williams en route to the fourth round there in 2019; even before she won the French Open junior title a year prior.”Even last year, I was too focused on trying to fulfill other people’s expectations,” said Gauff, who hasn’t dropped a set through five matches. “That’s a good message for young people… Just know: If you love yourself, who cares what anyone else thinks?”
Her quick rise is quite a contrast from the long road her next opponent, Martina Trevisan of Italy, traveled along the way to her own first Slam semifinal at age 28.
The 59th-ranked Trevisan is highly emotive, and she screamed while thrusting both arms overhead and letting her racket fly after eliminating U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, who was seeded 17th, by a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3 score.
Fernandez received treatment for a problem with her right foot after the match’s fifth game and her movement was hampered throughout. About three hours following the match, reporters were told that Fernandez would not speak to the media “on advice of the tournament medical team” due to the injury.
Trevisan eventually finished things off nearly an hour after holding her first match point while serving for the victory at 5-4 in the second set. She double-faulted twice in the ensuing tiebreaker.
“I felt a lot of tension,” Trevisan said later. “I was so nervous … my arms felt it.”
After that lapse, Trevisan took a trip to the locker room.
The reset worked wonders.
final four??? @rolandgarros pic.twitter.com/SJ5J1PwY4G
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) May 31, 2022
Trevisan grabbed the initial seven points of the third set and took a 4-0 lead in what would become her 10th consecutive victory on the heels of earning her first Women’s Tennis Association title in Rabat, Morocco, the week before the French Open.
Never forget ?
How @MartinaTrevisa3 made her maiden Grand Slam semi-final at #RolandGarros ? pic.twitter.com/eEpMvxsMYz
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2022
In 2020, Trevisan beat Gauff in the second round at Roland Garros on the way to reaching the quarterfinals.
About two months beforehand, Trevisan wrote a blog post that discussed in detail her experience with anorexia as a teenager. At 16, Trevisan was a promising prospect whose mother taught tennis and whose brother played professionally.
Beset by pressure, Trevisan quit her sport and took a 4 1/2-year break, before returning in 2014.
“I’m happy on the court. I’m doing what I love,” she said Tuesday.
