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Coco Gauff was handed a tough defeat against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the French Open semifinals Thursday. Swiatek's dominant 6-2, 6-4 win propelled her into the final, where she is the strong favorite to win her fourth Grand Slam title and third consecutive French Open championship. Gauff, despite the loss, displayed remarkable humility and self-awareness in her post-match interview.
When asked about her future rivalry with Swiatek, Gauff acknowledged that her game is still developing.
“I don’t think my game is all the way developed yet … when I’ve reached my peak, I can answer that question,” she said per The Tennis Letter on X, formerly Twitter, via Roland Garros Press.
Gauff expressed confidence in her potential and commitment to improving her performance.
“I have to be positive and believe in myself. Today I felt very confident going into the match,” Gauff said. “From Rome to this week I improved a lot on my serve. Even though it's not where I want it to be, but going from, like, 15 double faults to maybe 3 or 4 today, I don't know, it's a big improvement.”
The match itself was a display of Swiatek's consistent dominance over Gauff, extending her winning streak against the American to 11-1 and her overall Roland Garros streak to 20 matches. Swiatek has now defeated Gauff in three consecutive French Open tournaments, including the 2022 final and last year's quarterfinals.
Coco Gauff gets into dispute with chair umpire
In the opening set, Swiatek took an early lead, breaking Gauff's serve twice to secure a commanding position. Gauff struggled with unforced errors, and Swiatek capitalized on these mistakes to close out the set. The second set was more competitive, with both players breaking each other's serves. An emotional moment came when Gauff engaged in a heated dispute with chair umpire Aurelie Tourte over a call that went against her.
“Are you serious? They are booing you because you are wrong,” Gauff said, approaching the chair over Tourte overruling a serve by Swiatek that was initially deemed an out, as reported by Adam Zagoria of Forbes.
Despite the incident, Gauff managed to break Swiatek’s serve to lead 3-1. However, Swiatek quickly regained control, winning the next four games to take a 5-3 lead. Gauff saved three match points across two games, showcasing her resilience, but ultimately succumbed to Swiatek's relentless pressure. A missed forehand by Gauff sealed the match for Swiatek.
After the match, Gauff reflected on her performance and future prospects.
“Yeah, I think long-term I feel like it's definitely something … I can't sit here and say it's something I'm not going to want to turn around,” she said. “I know that there are things that I can improve to make this a closer score line … Like, first-serve percentage was pretty low.”
Swiatek's path to the final has been impressive, with her only major challenge coming in a three-set second-round match against Naomi Osaka. The Polish star has been at he best, displaying powerful and precise groundstrokes while minimizing unforced errors. In the final, she will face either Russia’s Mirra Andreeva or Italy’s Jasmine Paolini. Swiatek, who turned 23 last week, has a perfect record in major finals and will be looking to extend her Grand Slam tally to five titles.
