Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff wrote: 'Peace. End gun violence,' on a court-side camera then spoke to the media about shootings after beating Martina Trevisan.

The first thing my dad said to me after I got off court: ‘I’m proud of you and I love what you wrote on the camera.’” “Since I was younger – I know I said this before – that my dad told me I could change the world with my racket. “I think that this is a problem in other parts of the world, but especially in America it’s a problem that’s, frankly, been happening over some years but obviously now it’s getting more attention.

Coco Gauff will play Iga Swiatek in the French Open final, looking to become the youngest Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova in 2004.

In 2020, she came to Paris with no title expectations and marched to victory without dropping a set. She tied the longest women’s win streak since Venus Williams won 35 in 2000. “There’s a fine line between believing in yourself and almost pushing yourself too much.” Gauff instead beat her doubles partner, Caty McNally, in the final to become at 14 the youngest junior Grand Slam champion since Martina Hingis in 1994. Gauff’s strong play throughout the tour calendar has her at No. 23 in the world rankings. “This season everything clicked,” Swiatek said. She dispatched the 59th-ranked Trevisan in a matchup of first-time major semifinalists. “I’m a little bit in shock right now,” Gauff said in an on-court interview. “I’m going to be happy regardless [of the final result]. I know my parents are going to love me regardless, so I’m just going to go into it like another match. She will move to No. 13 with a runner-up on Saturday. Win, and she will be No. 8 in the world and the highest-ranked American. In 2020, Gauff beat Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open, becoming the youngest player to defeat a defending champion at a major since Jennifer Capriati in 1991. The next year, Coco Mania broke out at Wimbledon. She beat Venus Williams in the first round and became the youngest player to reach the fourth round of a major since Anna Kournikova in 1996.

Coco Gauff, 18, bested Martina Trevisan of Italy 6-3, 6-1 at the French Open to reach her first Grand Slam final.

Early on, a Trevisan shot landed near a baseline and was ruled in to make it 30-all. "The only time I get a little nervous is maybe in the morning. She also said her family and team encourages her to use her voice and that she has been inspired by other athletes doing the same. Unbothered, Gauff broke right back to lead 4-3, smacking a backhand winner that brought Mom and Dad out of their seats in the player guest box. I haven't been nervous at all, which is a surprise,'' Gauff said. A big part of that, perhaps bigger than her speedy serves that reached 115 mph (185 kph) on Thursday, is her preternatural cool, an old soul's ability to see an obstacle and not be daunted. -- and calmly snacked on some cut-up pieces of pineapple and other fruit, seemingly without a care in the world. But for me it's been an issue for years," Gauff said of the message. Gauff has won all 12 sets she has played over the past two weeks. Her opponent in Thursday's semifinals at Roland Garros, Martina Trevisan, was taking a medical timeout so her right thigh could be treated and taped by a trainer. I just think it's crazy, I think I was maybe 14 or 13 when that happened, and still nothing has changed." After wrapping up a 6-3, 6-1 victory over the 59th-ranked Trevisan, Gauff will be back in that stadium Saturday to face No. 1 Iga Swiatek for the championship.

Moments after Coco Gauff defeated Italian Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the women's singles final at the 2022 French Open, the 18-year-old ...

Coco Gauff with a message for peace after advancing to the French Open final.pic.twitter.com/NqA4FEpzS2 Gauff is also slated to compete in the semifinals of the women’s doubles’ tournament tomorrow with partner Jessica Pegula. “It’s a problem that’s been going on for years in the U.S. and I wanted to bring that attention to it,” Gauff told Jon Wertheim of Tennis Channel.

“From what I see on court, she's developing every year, basically,” said Swiatek, the champion at Roland Garros in 2020 and on a 34-match winning streak after ...

“I mean, yeah, it’s a Grand Slam final, but there are so many things going on in the world right now, and especially in the U.S. a lot of stuff is happening right now, so I think it’s not important to stress over a tennis match.” But I want to keep doing the same work.” Gauff questioned Veljovic about a couple of line calls, drawing whistles and boos from spectators who frown on that sort of thing. Now she's the youngest player to reach a major title match since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon at 17 in 2004. Because of all manner of surprising results and early exits by top players from the bracket, she has faced only one seeded foe, No. 31 Elise Mertens. My parents are going to love me, regardless. But ... this has been an issue, at least in my head, for a long time, and I definitely think there needs to be some reform put into place,” Gauff said. Now, in Swiatek, comes someone who will present a much tougher test. She won the French Open junior title at 14. So I’m just going to go into it like another match,” Gauff said. “I think now especially, being 18, I’ve really been trying to educate myself around certain situations, because now I have the right to vote and I want to use that wisely.” She became the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history and then beat Venus Williams on the way to the fourth round there at 15.

PARIS — It is easy to be in a rush when you reach the fourth round of Wimbledon at age 15, beating one of your idols, Venus Williams, in your opening match.

She and her partner, Jessica Pegula, are into the semifinals of the women’s doubles and will face their American compatriots Taylor Townsend and Madison Keys on Friday. I’m glad she is aware and bringing the attention and empathy to it. The first thing my dad said to me after I got off court: ‘I’m proud of you, and I love what you wrote on the camera.’” “My dad told me I could change the world with my racket,” she said. “She’s always had work to turn in, and it’s always in the back of your mind. But Gauff’s family also made it clear to her from an early age that she could have a reach far beyond the court. He added: “He’s able to communicate to her how it makes him feel on the other side of the net when she does something. “That release when you finish high school or college is real,” he said. “She’s definitely the favorite going into the match on paper,” Gauff said. On Saturday, she will play in her first Grand Slam singles final, facing the No. 1 seed, Iga Swiatek, at the French Open for the title and the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen. PARIS — It is easy to be in a rush when you reach the fourth round of Wimbledon at age 15, beating one of your idols, Venus Williams, in your opening match. That score and breakneck pace have been typical for Swiatek, the powerful and increasingly imposing Polish star.

Coco Gauff reaching the French Open final at age 18 is the latest in a string of remarkable teenage feats in her young career.

She is the youngest Grand Slam finalist since Maria Sharapova won 2004 Wimbledon at 17. Gauff, now 17, becomes the youngest player to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since Nicole Vaidisova in 2006. Gauff became the youngest junior Grand Slam champion since Hingis in 1994.

This year's final pits a budding American star up against the top-ranked player in the world, who enters Saturday riding a 34-match winning streak.

JW: Again, it would be a real pity to put this run together and not even get a major out of it. But in the end, you’re left with a thoroughly compelling final. JW: She told me she was reading, thematically, The Three Musketeers. We’re in the middle of a major; she’s trying to keep this win streak alive. And then we can sort of spin this ahead: She’s won junior Wimbledon, so why can’t she replicate this on grass? And if Świątek caps off the run that she’s had off with a major win, that makes it all feel much different, much more legit. CA: Obviously the tennis world is familiar with her by now, and has been for a couple of years since she won the French in 2020. When Ash Barty retired earlier in the season, I think we thought, Oh, a shame because she was really the torchbearer for the tour. She's so poised—there's no drama, she's such a great player, she has a great sense of humor and she has a sense of perspective— I just interviewed her [for Tennis Channel]. She walked off the court and signed the camera with “Stop gun violence.” And I asked her: are you cool with talking about that? She hasn’t won a major yet, but you just have a feeling that everything’s kind of breaking right. It’s an intense sport, and if you didn’t know she was a tennis player, you’d think she was just a well-adjusted 18-year-old going about her business. We’ve got the hottest player in all of tennis, in Iga Świątek, and the, well, it’s not even accurate to call her a recent phenom at this point: Coco Gauff. But she had a steady climb, and now it seems like she’s ready.

The youngest American grand slam finalist since Serena Williams is one win away from a breakthrough major championship that's been years in the making.

The first thing my dad said to me after I got off court, I’m proud of you and I love what you wrote on the camera.” On Twitter, former First Lady Michelle Obama congratulated Gauff on making it to the final and said she’d be rooting for her all the way. In tennis, a sport where players are perhaps more likely to publicly eschew the complexities of social consciousness for platitudes on hard work, Gauff is clear on her choice: “I’m a human first.” It’s not the first time Gauff has leveraged her platform in the service of social issues. But for me, it was an eye opener that my parents really just care about the character of my personality and not so much on tennis results.” The kind of work that goes into being a professional tennis player is only recently the stuff of Netflix documentaries; the level of tedium inherent to the endless rotation of practice, and play, and training, and physio, the kind needed to avoid the one-off anomaly of an early-career success simply cannot be avoided.

1:45 p.m.. Coco Gauff now has a chance to leave Roland Garros with two trophies. The 18-year-old Gauff and Jessica Pegula advanced to the women's doubles final ...

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American teen reaches the final in singles and doubles and hopes to walk away with two trophies this weekend.

It's a final between the world's No. 1, Iga Swiatek, and a rising American star, Coco Gauff -- a best final tennis fans could have hoped for.

Much has been made of the work she and her sports psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, have done off the court, keeping her balanced and putting everything in perspective, but Swiatek's innate ability to find a solution on court when she's in trouble is equally impressive. From the start, she has looked relaxed, determined and absolutely in her element. Much will depend on how much control she can get from the baseline. Instead, she has grasped the mantle of No. 1 and seems to actively embrace it. The champion in 2020 when she was 19, Swiatek is a far better player now. Quite simply, Swiatek is the best female player on the planet right now.

Coco Gauff has been selective with sponsorship opportunities, but a Grand Slam win at age 18 could bring in millions.

Deals with prestigious brands like Rolex and Microsoft made sense after her 2019 breakout, but there is care being taken not to overcommercialize Gauff at this young age or add to the pressure she acknowledged feeling in a 2020 post for Behind The Racquet. Her focus is on tennis, and her newly beefed-up playing schedule, now that she has turned 18 and is no longer subject to WTA restrictions on how many tournaments young players can enter each year. For starters, sponsor deals in tennis typically feature performance incentives on top of the base guarantees, so Gauff could unlock substantial bonuses by winning her first Grand Slam or rising in the rankings. Off the court, Forbes estimates she is making at least $4 million annually (before taxes and agents’ fees) from sponsors that include New Balance apparel, Head tennis rackets and Barilla pasta. The comparisons to Serena Williams started early for Coco Gauff, who won a national tennis tournament at age 8 and became the world’s No. 1 junior player at 14. But Gauff is already raking in cash, with $3.2 million in career prize money since she turned pro in 2018. Gauff, now 18, will play for the French Open women’s singles title in Saturday’s final against top-ranked Iga Swiatek, a phenom herself at just 21.