Coco Gauff joins Serena Williams, Iga Swiatek and forgotten French Open champion in rarefied air after latest incredible Roland Garros feat
Coco Gauff continues to march through the field at the French Open.
The young phenom raced into her fourth straight Roland Garros quarterfinal with a 6-1, 6-2 win against Elisabetta Cocciaretto on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
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The 20-year-old has already become the first American woman in over 31 years to achieve one incredible French Open feat.
Her round of 16 win over Cocciaretto means she joins another exclusive list.
Only two Americans have won more French Open single matches in their first five appearances at the tournament than Gauff.
Those players? Tennis icons Chris Evert and Serena Williams, who had 29 and 21 wins respectively during their first five appearances in Paris.
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In fact, since 2000, only current world No. 1 Iga Swiatek has claimed more singles wins than Gauff at Roland Garros before turning 21-years-old.
The defending French Open champion has 22 wins at Roland Garros, with Gauff now on 19.
Those 19 victories also draw her level with 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic.
"This week I feel like I've been managing and playing well," Gauff said after her round of 16 win.
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"It's definitely, I feel, tough conditions to play in. It's just really slow and muggy. The weather makes you maybe not as hyped up for your match just naturally. This week at Roland Garros has been a little bit different than the past first weeks."
Gauff reached her first Grand Slam final in Paris in 2022.
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She lost to Swiatek and couldn't hold back tears after the defeat.
She also lost to the Polish superstar in last year's semi-final but tasted her first major success on home soil at the 2023 US Open.
This year's French Open has been hit with numerous rain delays, causing several matches to go on well into the night.
Novak Djokovic's third-round match against Lorenzo Musetti ended at 3:07 a.m. local time after starting at 10:37 p.m. the previous night.
Gauff has hit out at the tournament organizers for the late finishes, calling the night session 'unhealthy' for players.
"Yeah, I definitely think finishing at 3 a.m. is - I feel like a lot of times people think you're done, but really, 3 a.m., then you have (media responsibilities) and then you have to shower, eat, and then a lot of times people do treatments," Gauff said.
"So that's probably not going to bed until 5 o'clock at the earliest, maybe 6 o'clock, and even 7 o'clock.
"I definitely think it's not healthy. It may be not fair for those who have to play late because it does ruin your schedule. I've been lucky I haven't been put in a super-late finish yet."
"What can be done? I know on the tour side they're thinking about putting matches can't start after a certain time," Gauff added. "I don't know if it's going to be a Grand Slam rule, but I know on the WTA Tour - I think that's something to look at. Maybe if a match is going long, possibly moving courts. Then I know it's tough because, especially here, it's only one night match, and people obviously paid for those tickets.
"It's a complicated thing, but I definitely think for the health and safety of the players it would be in the sport's best interest I think to try to avoid those matches finishing - or starting after a certain time. Obviously, you can't control when they finish."
No. 3 seed Gauff faced eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur in the quarter-final on Tuesday.
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Tunisian Jabeur is the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in WTA and ATP rankings history and is a two-time runner-up at Wimbledon and runner-up at the US Open.
Gauff battled back to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to march into the semi-finals and do something only two other Americans have done since 1968.
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