NEW YORK -- No.17 seed Caroline Garcia defeated No.12 Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-4 in the US Open quarterfinals to advance to her first major semifinal. The win extended the Frenchwoman's current win streak to 13 matches, a streak that began with her victory in Cincinnati. She will face No.5 Ons Jabeur in Thursday's semifinals.
Playing in her first major quarterfinal since 2017, Garcia is now the third Frenchwoman in the Open Era to make the US Open semifinals. She joins Amelie Mauresmo (2002 and 2006) and Mary Pierce (2005).
Garcia, 28, is bidding to become the first Frenchwoman since 2005 to make the US Open final and the first since 2013 to win a major singles title.
Garcia came into Tuesday night's quarterfinal aiming to score her first win against Gauff in three meetings. Gauff won their last meeting earlier this year in straight sets on the hard courts of Doha. Neither woman had yet to lose a set in New York.
"It was a very intense match," Garcia said. "Every point, every game was really tough. The atmosphere was really American with a lot of energy out there. I'm just very happy with the performance today, to manage the emotion in my game."
Wow. 😱@CaroGarcia is on absolute FIRE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/aAHq2diTJW
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2022
Garcia came out of the blocks quickly. Sticking to the swarming, aggressive style that has made her the winningest player since the start of July, Garcia built a quick 4-0 lead.
"You're playing someone off the bat, they're standing on top of the baseline and ripping balls, it's not easy," Gauff said. "She has the type of game that you kind of have to adjust to because I feel like it's not hit-or-miss because she definitely makes more, but you're hitting a good serve, and sometimes you're not expecting the ball to come back as fast and as deep as she was hitting it."
Gauff broke to get on the board down 4-1 and slowly began to close the gap. The key game came with Garcia serving at 4-2. Gauff got the game to deuce but could not generate a break point in the three-deuce game. Garcia held to 5-2 and coolly closed out the set two games later after 45 minutes.
Coco Gauff shows off her net game. pic.twitter.com/36E6GL5IeI
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2022
The second set unfolded in a similar fashion. Garcia broke early for a 2-0 lead and held off Gauff from there. With Garcia serving at 3-2, Gauff earned her first break point of the set. Once again the confident Frenchwoman found a perfect first serve to save it and hold. When Gauff had a 0-30 look at Garcia's serve at 4-3, Garcia fired two aces and two forehands to hold.
Ultimately, Gauff will rue the mistakes that came on balls she would not otherwise miss. But the pressure from Garcia was relentless. On this night, offense and experience won out. Not even Gauff's speed and court coverage could rattle Garcia as she methodically made her way to the finish line. Garcia closed out the match after 1 hour and 37 minutes.
Garcia finished the match with 24 winners to 22 unforced errors. Gauff, who out-aced Garcia five to four, finished with 18 winners and 24 unforced errors.
✈️ flying into the semis!@CaroGarcia | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/PryjllRBZh
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2022