That’s a wrap: Gauff plea to give peace a chance
In some ways, Coco Gauff is a typical 18-year-old, striding into Court Philippe Chatrier for her French Open semifinal yesterday with earbuds in place, listening to a playlist she explained is “called ‘Rap’ — and I can’t say the next word”.
And in some ways, she is an old soul, anything but a run-of-the-mill teen or tennis player.
So when Gauff had wrapped up her 6-3, 6-1 victory over Martina Trevisan to reach her first Grand Slam final, setting up a showdown against No 1-ranked Iga Swiatek tonight, the American thought of the recent spate of mass shootings in her home country and wrote in marker on a courtside TV camera: “Peace. End gun violence.”
She spoke post-match about the need for gun reforms, and a willingness to speak out about issues of significance, and a wide-lens view of the world, reflect the sort of maturity that has served her well, especially with so much attention from such a young age.
Gauff became the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history and then beat Venus Williams on the way to the fourth round there at 15.
“From what I see on court, she’s developing every year, basically,” said Swiatek, the champion at Roland Garros in 2020 and on a 34-match winning streak after eliminating No 20 Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-1 yesterday. “And when I see her, I tend to forget she’s 18.”
Ah, but she is.
When Gauff arrived in Paris two weeks ago, she celebrated her recent high school graduation by posing for cap-and-gown photos near the Eiffel Tower while holding her diploma. Now she’s the youngest player to reach a major title match since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon at 17 in 2004.
Gauff has won all 12 sets she has played, although she did not need to navigate the most arduous path to get this. Because of all manner of surprising results and early exits by top players from the bracket, she has faced only one seeded foe, No 31 Elise Mertens.
Big serves that reached against Trevisan, a terrific backhand and a still-improving forehand are the keys to the 18th-seeded Gauff ’s game.
Trevisan also praised Gauff’s defence, likening facing her to hitting against a wall — every ball comes back.
Now, in Swiatek, comes someone who will present a much tougher test. The only Polish player to win a major singles title hasn’t lost since February, stringing together five tournaments in a row; only Venus Williams, who won 35 consecutive matches in 2000, has a longer unbeaten stretch this century.
“I’m just trying to treat these matches as any other matches,” Swiatek said, “because it is stressful, and I accept that. But I want to keep doing the same work.”
Now there’s one match left to determine a champion.
“I’m in a mindset now like: ‘It doesn’t matter.’ I’m just going to go into it like another match,” Gauff said. “Yeah, it’s a Grand Slam final, but there are so many things going on in the world right now, and especially in the US, so it’s not important to stress over a tennis match.”
There are so many things going on in the world right now, and especially in the US, so it’s not important to stress over a tennis match.
Coco Gauff