She extinguished the American prodigy, and the public of the short Arthur-Ashe with it. Caroline Garcia, 17th in the world, qualified for the US Open on Tuesday for her first semi-final of a Grand Slam tournament by clearly dominating the American Coco Gauff (12th) 6-3, 6-4. “I don’t know how to describe what I feel, the energy was crazy, my head is spinning,” said the 28-year-old Frenchwoman before leaving the Arthur-Ashe court.
At 28, she who had never passed the third round of the New York Major, will try Thursday to reach the final by facing the Tunisian Ons Jabeur (5th), finalist of the last Wimbledon. She becomes the first French player to reach the last four of a Major since Marion Bartoli when she won Wimbledon in 2013. And while she is playing the tennis of her life, with 29 wins in her last 33 matches, she can claim the title.
In the footsteps of Amélie Mauresmo and Marie Pierce
The Lyonnaise lined up a 13th victory in a row since qualifying in Cincinnati where she won the tenth title of her career just before coming to New York. Former world N.4 who fell to 79th place in the WTA on May 23, 2022, she should return to the Top 10 at the end of the tournament. She is only the third French player to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows in the Open era (since 1968), after Amélie Mauresmo (2002 and 2006) and Mary Pierce (2005).
Faced with Gauff, who had beaten her in their two previous meetings, in Indian Wells in 2021 and Doha in 2022, Garcia immediately took the match in hand by imposing her power, her speed, and by putting Gauff under a pressure that the American, finalist of the last Roland-Garros, could not bear (24 unforced errors, 26 caused errors). “I have always played aggressively, it turns out that in recent months I have been in good enough physical shape to play this game and continue on this path,” she said.
Jabeur, a tough opponent
Garcia thus managed the entry break in the first set by benefiting from a double fault from his opponent. Then she managed a double break thanks to a seemingly easy passing shot from Gauff but which she played too long.
Trailing 4-0, Gauff played a little more aggressively to take back a serve from Garcia, but the Frenchwoman got her hands on the match and won her first set point. She followed up with a new entry break in the second set and did not let go of her advantage to conclude on her first match point, not without having saved a break point at 3-2.
Her crushing victory over the 19-year-old American tennis nugget confirms that Garcia is the most impressive player since the start of the tournament. And she does not hide her ambitions before playing the next match: Jabeur, “since the juniors, she is strong. I look forward to taking up this challenge,” she said. Jabeur leads 2-0 in their heads-up. Like Coco Gauff.