Teenage star Coco Gauff and seasoned campaigner Martina Trevisan reached their maiden Grand Slam semi-finals at the French Open on Tuesday.
Gauff turned into an overnight star as a 15-year-old as she became the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history and beat Venus Williams en route to the fourth round there in 2019. At Roland Garros, she continued her rise by defeating fellow American Sloane Stephens 7-5, 6-2 in the quarter-finals.
Victory for Gauff, 18 years old and ranked 23 in the world, avenged her defeat to Stephens at the 2021 US Open and helped erase the memory of her quarter-final defeat last year to Barbora Krejcikova in Paris.
"I feel so happy," said Gauff. "Last year was a tough loss for me but I believe that match made me stronger.
"Last time I played Sloane I lost. Today was different. I stayed mentally strong as she is the kind of player who can make shots others can't do."
Trevisan advanced to her first major semi-final at the age of 28 by beating Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-7, 6-3. She missed a chance to win in straight sets after the 17th-seeded Canadian saved a match point and levelled the second set at 5-5 on Court Philippe Chatrier. Trevisan then double-faulted twice in the tiebreaker.
“In the first match point I felt a little bit more nervous,” Trevisan said in her on-court interview. “I thought too much … that I was one point from the semi-final.”
In the other match, Gauff broke in the second game of the match to lead 3-0 before 2018 runner-up Stephens levelled with a break and hold for 5-5.
However, clean hitting allowed Gauff to dominate the 12th game to clinch the opener.
Stephens, playing in her first Slam quarter-final in three years, and Gauff traded breaks at the start of the second set before the teenager again pounced for 3-1.
Gauff held for 5-1, was broken for 5-2 before Stephens dropped serve for the fourth time in the set to hand her compatriot victory.
While in the French capital, Gauff has graduated from high school, marking the occasion on Instagram with a family photo in front of the Eiffel Tower.
"Getting my diploma meant a lot to me," she said on Tuesday.
"Lots of players think tennis is the most important thing and it's not."
World No 59 Trevisan, 10 years older than Gauff, was a shock quarter-finalist in 2020.
She arrived at the French Open with a maiden WTA title in Rabat and went into Tuesday's tie on a nine-match winning streak. She made that 10 when she claimed victory on a second match point having wasted one in the second set with Fernandez left to rue her 44 unforced errors.
Trevisan is the first Italian woman to make the last four since Sara Errani in 2013.
She is now guaranteed a place in the top 30 at least and said Grand Slam titles by fellow Italian Francesca Schiavone in Paris in 2010 and Flavia Pennetta at the 2015 US Open were her influences.
"They are happy for me. They are my biggest inspirations."
Fernandez was treated by a trainer for a problem with her right foot after the match’s fifth game and her movement was hampered throughout. About three hours after the match, it was announced that Fernandez would not speak to the media “on advice of the tournament medical team due to” the injury.
Fernandez, who reached the US Open final last September, received treatment on her right foot during the first set when she hit 15 unforced errors. She had the foot taped during a medical timeout after the fifth game, trailing 3-2.
Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev beat Carlos Alcaraz in a dramatic four-set clash to secure a semi-final spot.
The German third seed claimed a 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory over Spanish teenage sensation Alcaraz after three hours and 18 minutes.
Zverev moved into his second straight last-four match at Roland Garros after his first-ever Grand Slam win over a top-10 player.
