American teenager Coco Gauff reached her first Grand Slam singles final with victory in the French Open last four, setting up a tantalising meeting with world number one Iga Swiatek.
Gauff, 18, won 6-3 6-1 against unseeded Italian Martina Trevisan on the Paris clay in her maiden major semi-final.
Swiatek, 21, completed a serene journey into the Roland Garros final with a 6-2 6-1 win over 20th seed Daria Kasatkina.
The Pole earned a 34th successive win to move into her second major final.
Swiatek, the 2020 Roland Garros champion, has dropped just one set this fortnight on the Paris clay.
“It is a pretty special moment and emotional,” said Swiatek, who meets Gauff on Saturday. “I am grateful to be healthy and in that place.”
Gauff, seeded 18th, was the heavy favourite against Trevisan and has become the youngest finalist at Roland Garros since Kim Clijsters in 2001.
“I think I’m in a bit of shock right now and I didn’t know how to react at the end of the match,” Gauff said.
“I have no words to describe how I feel.”
The teenage phenomenon became a global star when she reached the Wimbledon fourth round as a 15-year-old in 2019 and has now become the Grand Slam finalist that many predicted.
Gauff won her maiden WTA singles title three months after Wimbledon and ended 2019 inside the top world’s 100.
After her quarter-final win at Roland Garros on Wednesday, she spoke about learning how to manage expectations – internally as well as externally – and how “enjoying life” was helping to achieve her goals on the court.
Gauff’s clarity of mind was particularly evident as she closed out victory against Trevisan, serving out the final game with a nerveless hold to love.
Gauff edged a tight first set, where there were breaks opportunities in eight of the nine games, by winning the final three games.
The American also managed to contain her frustrations. Trevisan makes a noisy groan after every shot and Gauff asked chair umpire Marijana Veljovic if making so much noise was allowed.
She also had a couple of disagreements with Veljovic about line calls and where ball marks were on the clay.
But Gauff put those distractions behind her in the second set. She finally broke Trevisan’s serve in a lengthy fourth game and then won the next three to earn an achievement that many thought was her destiny.
“I’ve not been nervous all tournament, which is surprising,” said Gauff, who has also reached the doubles semi-finals alongside fellow American Jessica Pegula.
“In the morning I go for a walk and that clears my head and after that I feel great.”
