Garcia surges past Gauff into semifinals
NEW YORK — Caroline Garcia never really let Coco Gauff — or the crowd — get fully involved in their U.S. Open quarterfinal on Tuesday night.
From early on, Garcia played high-stakes tennis and put strokes where she wanted, sometimes right at Gauff ’s feet, sometimes well out of reach. In contrast to the early success Gauff, still just 18, has experienced, it’s been a long journey for Garcia, who now gets to play in the first Grand Slam semifinal of her career at age 28.
The 17th-seeded Garcia took charge at the start and never relented in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the 12th-seeded Gauff at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I just go for my shots,” Garcia said, “even when I’m stressed.”
She had lost both of her two previous matches against Gauff, who was the runner-up at the French Open in June, but was by far the better player this time.
Garcia, who is from France, hasn’t ceded a set at Flushing Meadows so far this year and stretched her winning streak to 13 matches overall, solidifying her status as someone playing as well as anyone in women’s tennis at the moment.
She finished last season ranked 74th, but now is projected to rise into the top 10 next week.
“The last couple of months.” Garcia said, “I feel healthy again.”
She will face Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur of Tunisia on Thursday with a berth in the final at stake.
“I’m looking forward to the next challenge and what I can achieve,” Garcia said.
Jabeur advanced to her first semifinal in New York with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over the player who beat Serena Williams in the third round, Ajla Tomljanovic.
Jabeur is the first woman representing an African nation to get to the final four of the U.S. Open during the professional era, which began in 1968.
“Just trying to do my job and, hopefully, I inspire more and more generations from Africa,” Jabeur said. “It really means a lot to me.”
She said her run to the title match at the All England Club allowed her to “believe more in myself” and realize, “I had it in me that I can win a Grand Slam.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Casper Ruud parlayed what he called “a better start than I ever had before
in a match” to a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini in the quarterfinals.
The 23-year-old from Norway, who is coached by his father, former professional player Christian, headed into the season with just one Grand Slam appearance that had lasted as far as the fourth round. He was determined to improve his record at the four most important events in tennis.
Then, a day before the Australian Open began in January, he twisted his ankle in practice and
needed to withdraw. Hardly ideal. Just look at him now: Ruud is into the semifinals at the U.S. Open and has a shot at moving up to No. 1 in the ATP rankings, following a run to the final at the French Open.
“During Paris, something clicked, and I feel like I, this year, have sort of figured out the better way how to play five sets and knowing that it’s very different from playing best-of-three sets. … Sometimes realizing, or knowing, that you can sort of let one set go every once in a while to save
some energy for the rest of the sets,” the No. 5-seeded Ruud said. “So I think I matured and learned how to play five sets better than I did last year.”
He improved to 12-2 in Grand Slam competition in 2022 after making just two unforced errors in the first set, 11 fewer than No. 13 Berrettini.
“Everything sort of went (in) my favor,” Ruud said. “I was hitting all the spots, all the shots that I needed to.”
Berrettini’s take: “After 20 minutes I was (down) 5-0. I don’t
know how really. I don’t know what happened.”
Ruud next will face No. 27 Karen Khachanov. The Russian beat Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios — who eliminated defending champion Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round — 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in a match that went well past midnight at a rowdy Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Besides witnessing a thrilling five-setter, fans saw two spectators kicked out of the match after one gave the other a haircut in the stands.