Coco Gauff Reaches French Open Final, Will Face Iga Swiatek

“She is reaching a lot of balls,” said Kasatkina, the Russian who has lost to Swiatek four times in a hurry this season. “I mean, even some of the balls that you are thinking that the point is over, she’s still there, and she’s taking the ball pretty early, which makes it really tough. It’s difficult when the player is moving good and then she can transit this to attack mode.”

But Gauff, one of the fastest players on tour, can also turn defense into offense, which is one of the reasons she excels on clay. Though she made her first big breakthrough on the circuit on the grass courts of Wimbledon by reaching the fourth round there as a qualifier at age 15, she has had her best Grand Slam singles results in Paris: reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last year before losing to Barbora Krejcikova, the eventual champion.

Now, Gauff, with better control of her strokes and her big-point emotions, has gone two rounds further, becoming the youngest women’s singles finalist at the French Open since Kim Clijsters in 2001 and the youngest singles finalist at any Grand Slam event since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004 at age 17.

Gauff, who has admitted to struggling with the expectations that come with such early success, has been emphasizing the process over the destination of late. She kept the same approach as she looked forward to Saturday’s final.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/sports/tennis/french-open-coco-gauff-iga-swiatek.html