PARIS — Coco Gauff overcame 10 double-faults and the first set she’s dropped in the tournament to beat Madison Keys 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1 at the French Open on Wednesday, reaching the semifinals for the third time.
It was a contest filled with plenty of mistakes by both Americans, who each has claimed one major championship. They combined for 101 unforced errors and just 40 winners across more than two hours under a closed roof at Court Philippe-Chatrier on a drizzly, chilly day.
Nearly half of the games — 14 of 29 — featured breaks of serve. But from 4-all in the second set, Gauff held four times in a row while reeling off eight of the match’s last nine games. She made two unforced errors in the last set, including just one double-fault.
The No. 2-seeded Gauff won the 2023 U.S. Open and was the runner-up at the 2022 French Open. She’ll play Thursday for a berth in another Grand Slam final, facing either No. 6 Mirra Andreeva or 361st-ranked French wild-card entry Loïs Boisson.
The other women’s semifinal is quite a matchup: three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek vs. No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka. They advanced with quarterfinal victories Tuesday.
It was Swiatek who stopped Gauff at Roland-Garros in the semifinals last year and in the final three years ago.
“I have a lot more work left to do,” said Gauff, who raised her arms overhead then spread them wide apart after the last point against Keys, “but I’m going to savor this one today.”
Gauff began particularly poorly, trailing 4-1 and twice standing just one point from a 5-1 deficit. Gauff bowed her head or sighed after some miscues. Then, suddenly, she got going, using her speed and instincts to stretch points until Keys — the Australian Open champion in January — missed.
That helped Gauff get within a point of taking that set. But the 21-year-old based in Florida double-faulted three times in the tiebreaker, and soon was headed to the locker room to regroup.
That set was sloppy. Gauff had seven winners to 21 unforced errors. Keys has 12 winners to 28 unforced errors, 19 of which arrived from her powerful forehand.
“Her forehand is probably one of the best — if not the best — on tour. I was just trying my best to get it on the other side of the court,” Gauff said. “I knew that I just had to be able to run today and as soon as the ball came short, just punish her for it.”
Repeatedly, Gauff scrambled this way or that to get her racket on a shot from Keys that against plenty of other players would end the point. And often enough, it worked well, leading to a miss by Keys, who occasionally admonished herself with a slap on her right leg.
“With her ability to cover the court,” Keys said, “you’re going to have to win the point multiple times before it’s actually over.”
The crowd offered more support to Gauff. There were chants in English of “Let’s go, Coco! Let’s go!” and in French of “Allez, Coco!”
She ended Keys’ 11-match Grand Slam winning streak and now can continue her own pursuit of a second major trophy.
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