Coco Gauff is making history. The 17-year-old has become the youngest woman to reach the French Open grand slam quarterfinal in 15 years.
The tennis phenom won against Ons Jabeur in only 53 minutes at Roland Garros, 6-3 6-1, to seal her place in history.
“I feel like all my matches have been — I don’t know how to say it, but straightforward wins, like no crazy three sets and stuff,” Gauff said in an interview. “As we know, I have had a lot of those in the past. I just feel like this has been the most consistent tennis I have played at this level. Hopefully I can keep that going. “
Gauff follows in the footsteps of Nicole Vaidisova who reached the grand slam quarterfinal at the 2006 French Open. She also became the youngest American to reach the quarterfinal of the grand slam, following in the footsteps of her childhood hero Venus Williams.
“It means a lot to me,” Gauff said in her post-match press conference. “I have lost in the fourth round a couple times so it feels good to get over that hurdle. Today I played probably my best match so far in the tournament.”
Ladies and gentlemen 🥁
The youngest woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since 2006.
🇺🇸 @CocoGauff wins the battle of the former junior #RolandGarros champions 6-3, 6-1 against Jabeur! pic.twitter.com/ua3REslDSM
— wta (@WTA) June 7, 2021
Despite her on-court confidence. The amazingly talented athlete remains humble and says that she will always be learning, especially since they are playing on clay this time around.
“I’m going to always still be learning no matter how many matches I win,” Gauff said. “But for me, it’s just being patient.” She continues, “And shot selection I think is really important on clay because you’re not going to have too many outright winners on clay just because it’s slower and gives more time for your opponent to get the ball.”
If you remember Gauff gained overnight fame, at the age of 15, as she defeated Venus Williams in the first round of Wimbledon in 2019.
The world is watching, Coco! And we are unquestionably rooting for you!
