Coco Gauff’s run at U.S. Open ends in quarterfinals

By OlympicTalkSep 7, 2022, 10:00 AM EDT

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Coco Gauff was eliminated in the U.S. Open quarterfinals by on-fire Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia.

Garcia earned her 13th consecutive match win, sweeping the 18-year-old American 6-3, 6-4 to set a Thursday semifinal with Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.

U.S. OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men

Gauff completed her 2022 Grand Slam schedule by earning a place in the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time. The year’s highlight — other than graduating virtual high school — was her French Open runner-up. She became the youngest major finalist since Maria Sharapova won 2004 Wimbledon and remains the youngest player in the top 100.

She was bidding Tuesday to become the youngest American to reach a U.S. Open semifinal since a 17-year-old Serena Williams lifted the trophy in 1999.

“I didn’t tell anyone, but I didn’t think it was going to be that good of a tournament for me,” said Gauff, who retired from her last match with an injury before the U.S. Open.

Her next big target is the WTA Finals the first week of November in Fort Worth, Texas.

“After this I’ll have some time to reflect,” she said. “I don’t have any tournaments for a while, so I’ll try to reflect on the season as a whole.”

Garcia is the first Frenchwoman to make a semifinal at any major since Marion Bartoli‘s stunning run to the 2013 Wimbledon title. This run comes five years after Garcia’s previous major quarterfinal appearance.

Since, Garcia rose to No. 4 in the world in 2018, then plummeted as low as No. 79 three months ago. She was one of two women to reach the top four of the world rankings and never make a major semifinal (Magdalena Maleeva).

Garcia, at age 17 touted by Andy Murray as a future No. 1, had a losing record for 2022 going into the first tournament of the summer.

She has since won titles on three surfaces and defeated six consecutive top-20 opponents. She gets another one Thursday in the fifth seed Jabeur, who swept Serena Williams vanquisher Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 7-6 (4) earlier Tuesday. Garcia could join Gauff in the top 10 next week.

“The path is very clear right now, which direction I have to go, under stress, under pressure,” she said. “I’m just trying to follow this path.”

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Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz exit French Open, leaving no U.S. men

Associated PressJun 3, 2023, 7:35 PM EDT

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Frances Tiafoe kept coming oh so close to extending his French Open match against Alexander Zverev: 12 times Saturday night, the American was two points from forcing things to a fifth set.

Yet the 12th-seeded Tiafoe never got closer than that.

Instead, the 22nd-seeded Zverev finished out his 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory after more than 3 1/2 hours in Court Philippe Chatrier to reach the fourth round. With Tiafoe’s exit, none of the 16 men from the United States who were in the bracket at the start of the tournament are still in the field.

“I mean, for the majority of the match, I felt like I was in control,” said Tiafoe, a 25-year-old from Maryland who fell to 1-7 against Zverev.

“It’s just tough,” he said about a half-hour after his loss ended, rubbing his face with his hand. “I should be playing the fifth right now.”

Two other American men lost earlier Saturday: No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz and unseeded Marcos Giron.

No. 23 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina beat Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, and Nicolas Jarry of Chile eliminated Giron 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3.

There are three U.S women remaining: No. 6 Coco Gauff, Sloane Stephens and Bernarda Pera.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

It is the second year in a row that zero men from the United States will participate in the fourth round at Roland Garros. If nothing else, it stands as a symbolic step back for the group after what seemed to be a couple of breakthrough showings at the past two majors.

For Tiafoe, getting to the fourth round is never the goal.

“I want to win the trophy,” he said.

Remember: No American man has won any Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open. The French Open has been the least successful major in that stretch with no U.S. men reaching the quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003.

But Tiafoe beat Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the U.S. Open along the way to getting to the semifinals there last September, the first time in 16 years the host nation had a representative in the men’s final four at Flushing Meadows.

Then, at the Australian Open this January, Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda and Ben Shelton became the first trio of Americans in the men’s quarterfinals in Melbourne since 2000. Paul made it a step beyond that, to the semifinals.

After that came this benchmark: 10 Americans were ranked in the ATP’s Top 50, something that last happened in June 1995.

On Saturday, after putting aside a whiffed over-the-shoulder volley — he leaned atop the net for a moment in disbelief — Tiafoe served for the fourth set at 5-3, but couldn’t seal the deal.

In that game, and the next, and later on, too, including at 5-all in the tiebreaker, he would come within two points of owning that set.

Each time, Zverev claimed the very next point. When Tiafoe sent a forehand wide to end it, Zverev let out two big yells. Then the two, who have been pals for about 15 years, met for a warm embrace at the net, and Zverev placed his hand atop Tiafoe’s head.

“He’s one of my best friends on tour,” said Zverev, a German who twice has reached the semifinals on the red clay of Paris, “but on the court, I’m trying to win.”

At the 2022 French Open, Zverev tore ligaments in his right ankle while playing Nadal in the semifinals and had to stop.

“It’s been definitely the hardest year of my life, that’s for sure,” Zverev said. “I love tennis more than anything in the world.”

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2023 French Open women’s singles draw, scores

By OlympicTalkJun 3, 2023, 7:30 PM EDT

At the French Open, Iga Swiatek of Poland eyes a third title at Roland Garros and a fourth Grand Slam singles crown overall.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Swiatek, the No. 1 seed from Poland, can join Serena Williams and Justine Henin as the lone women to win three or more French Opens since 2000.

Having turned 22 on Wednesday, she can become the youngest woman to win three French Opens since Monica Seles in 1992 and the youngest woman to win four Slams overall since Williams in 2002.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Men’s Draw

But Swiatek is not as dominant as in 2022, when she went 16-0 in the spring clay season during an overall 37-match win streak.

She retired from her last pre-French Open match with a right thigh injury and said it wasn’t serious. Before that, she lost the final of another clay-court tournament to Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed, is her top remaining challenger in Paris.

No. 3 Jessica Pegula, the highest-seeded American man or woman, was eliminated in the third round. No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who has three wins over Swiatek this year, withdrew before her third-round match due to illness.

No. 6 Coco Gauff, runner-up to Swiatek last year, is the best hope to become the first American to win a Grand Slam singles title since Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought is the longest for U.S. women since Seles won the 1996 Australian Open.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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