In one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of the French Open, on Tuesday, 18-year-old tennis phenom Coco Gauff defeated former US Open champion Sloane Stephens 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Gauff now advances to her first Grand Slam semi-final, per Tennis Channel.
Before we get to the match recap and Coco’s chances of winning the tournament, let’s take a moment and bask in the glory of these two beautiful Black women showing out in front of the whole world on one of tennis’ biggest stages. Yes, they’ve played before, but we always have time to celebrate Black Girl Magic.
As for the match itself, No. 18 seed Gauff was technically a favorite over the unseeded Stephens, but in reality, the two were considered even heading into the contest. Sloane is a former French Open finalist with a very powerful game and has looked good in her first four rounds in Paris. Meanwhile, Coco had yet to drop a set and played her best match so far against previous opponent Elise Mertens, whom she beat 6-4, 6-0.
Coco jumped out to an early lead and seemed ready to quickly close out the first set at 5-2, but Stephens came back and won three games in a row to even things at 5-5. Gauff was able to regroup and win the next two games and the first set. After exchanging service breaks to start the second set, it was all Coco as she picked up the pace for a quick second set win.
Up next for Coco is Italian Martina Trevisan, who defeated young Canadian star Leylah Fernandez in three sets in their quarterfinal matchup. Recent high school graduate Gauff has a solid chance to win it all, but she’ll have to go through world No. 1 Iga Światek, who is currently on a 32-match win streak.
And by the way, Coco is still alive in the women’s doubles, currently playing in the third round alongside fellow American Jessica Pegula.
The French Open women’s semi-finals air on Thursday at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT on the Tennis Channel.