French tennis player Caroline Garcia overwhelmed 18-year-old American Coco Gauff on Tuesday and advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinals at the US Open.
Garcia, number 17 in the world ranking, beat Gauff (12th) 6-3 and 6-4, thus ending the exciting journey in New York of the American tennis jewel.
The Frenchwoman, champion in August of the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, will have as her next rival the Tunisian Ons Jabeur in search of the first ‘Major’ final of her career.
“I don’t know how to describe it, it’s so crazy. The atmosphere was very strong because he was playing against an American. There was a lot of energy,” declared a beaming Garcia.
At 28, the Frenchwoman has taken a radical turn in her career in recent months, displaying a bold and aggressive game with which she has achieved 30 wins, more than anyone else, since the beginning of July.
Since then he has climbed 60 places in the world rankings to the top-10 to which he will return on Monday for the first time since 2018, when his promising career, with a pair of WTA 1000 titles, went into decline.
Flushing Meadows expected a fast-paced battle between the reborn Garcia and Gauff on the rise, but the Frenchwoman stopped short the ‘Cocomania’ that had been emerging in the last week.
American tennis has Gauff as its great hope for the uncertain time that opens with the farewell on Friday of the giant Serena Williams.
Gauff, who has been competing since the age of 15, is already knocking on the door of the Grand Slams and has stepped into a grand final at Roland Garros.
Not dropping a set in her first four matches, Gauff dreamed of following in the footsteps of Serena, who began her reign by winning this tournament as a 17-year-old in 1999.
But Garcia imposed her law from the first game and the local youngster came under pressure not to disappoint her fans on the biggest track in the world.
Garcia is the first player from her country to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam since Marion Bartoli won Wimbledon in 2013.
