Paris (AFP) – Coco Gauff said on Wednesday she will pretend the French crowd “are cheering for me” when she faces home favourite Lois Boisson in the Roland Garros semi-finals. The second seed battled past her fellow American Madison Keys 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-1 in a tense last-eight clash littered with 14 double-faults and a whopping 101 unforced errors. Gauff will have to face down a raucous crowd as well as her inspired opponent when she faces world number 361 Boisson in the last four on Thursday.
“I think there are two ways I have done it in the past. Either, A: just pretend they’re cheering for you, and B: just using it and not letting that get to you,” she told reporters. Russian sixth seed Mirra Andreeva appeared to be affected by the atmosphere as she crumbled in her dramatic defeat by Boisson, losing the last six games and growing visibly frustrated. But Gauff said she would be prepared for whatever reception she gets from the partisan home fans.
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“I have been in crowds where they are 99 percent for me, so I don’t have an issue with it,” she said. “I hope everyone will be respectful and things. If not, it’s cool. I think, you know, it makes sports exciting, and I can’t get irritated at the fact that someone is rooting for their hometown hero, because I would do the same. I think it’s just something that I will mentally prepare for if it were to happen and expect and be ready for.”
– Gauff shows fighting spirit –
Australian Open champion Keys came through a tense first set in a tie-break after blowing a 4-1 lead with a double-break, but Gauff upped her level enough to fight back. The 21-year-old was the runner-up to Iga Swiatek in a one-sided showpiece match in 2022. Keys had been hoping to challenge for back-to-back Grand Slam titles but failed in her bid to secure a second semi-final appearance in Paris.
Gauff will be hoping to go at least one better than last year when she was beaten by Swiatek in the last four. She has made a habit of pulling off comeback wins in her career so far, including in the 2023 US Open final against Aryna Sabalenka. “I think just a love to win, the will to win,” Gauff said when asked why she is comfortable coming from behind. “I don’t think sometimes it’s not something that’s taught or anything. It’s just I have always had that in me, and not just in tennis but in everything. I’m a very competitive person.”
“My philosophy is if I can just leave it all out there, then the loss will hurt a lot less than regrets of maybe not giving it your all.” Gauff will need to improve her game, especially her serve, ahead of the semi-finals after delivering 10 double-faults against Keys, including seven in the first set alone. “It’s something that I will always have to work on, but I’m glad I didn’t let what happened in the tiebreaker earlier in the match affect the next two sets,” added Gauff, who made three double-faults in the first-set tie-break. She will have an unknown challenge ahead of her in the shape of Boisson, who had never played a top-10 opponent before defeating Jessica Pegula and 18-year-old Andreeva this week.
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