When Coco Gauff faced off against 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva of Russia during the third round of the 2023 French Open on Saturday, it marked the first time Gauff, 19, played a Grand Slam singles match against a player younger than herself.

Gauff, the runner-up at last year’s French Open, lost the first set to Andreeva, but rallied back in the next two sets, ultimately winning the match 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-1 to advance to the fourth round, where she’ll face Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

But while much of the media ahead of the match focused on age, that topic wasn’t on Gauff’s mind when she stepped onto the court.

“I was just thinking about playing the opponent,” she said. “To be honest, you don’t really think about (age) as an athlete.”

Asked after if she thinks the media focuses too much on that topic, Gauff smiled.

“I’m gonna be honest: Yes. … Age is important to mention sometimes but, as a player and going through it, yes, it gets a little bit annoying. Because I feel like I’m the type of person, I don’t need to be praised because of my age or anything. I prefer just to be praised because of my game, not because of things I’m doing at whatever age.”

Gauff added that she was baffled the other day when she saw a stat about how she had the most bagels (sets that end 6-0) of any teenager on tour.

“I feel like some of these stats, I don’t know, y’all be finding the smallest details,” she said. “I’m like who keeps track of this stuff?”

Even if Gauff doesn’t put much stock in age, she knows experience plays a role. She credits her years on the tour with helping her learn to control her body language, especially in moments of frustration.

“I didn’t realize how much my body language showed until I started watching the film of me,” Gauff explained. “I’m like, yeah, if I was the other side looking at me, I’d be like, ‘Yeah, this girl is down.'”

At moments during Saturday’s match, Andreeva appeared clearly frustrated, smashing a racket during the first set and later hitting a ball into the crowd. Asked by a reporter about her opponent’s “teenage behavior,” Gauff pushed back.

“It’s just being an athlete and being frustrated, to be honest. People do it at all ages, so I’m not gonna blame it on her age,” she said, noting that smashing a racquets is normal for athletes.

“I mean, you shouldn’t do it, but, you know, it’s part of growing up and part of life. So I’m not gonna sit here and berate her for it. I hope you guys don’t either.”

No. 1 Iga Swiatek has done it again, continuing her historic run to claim the French Open title Saturday.

The 21-year-old cruised past Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 with a dominant performance to clinch her second French Open championship in three years and sixth straight title. Swiatek is the youngest multiple Grand Slam winner since Maria Sharapova secured her second major at 19 years old at the U.S. Open in 2006.

With Saturday’s victory, Swiatek extends her win streak to 35 straight matches, tying Venus Williams for the longest streak since 2000 and the third-longest since 1990.

Swiatek got off to a swift start in Paris, claiming the first set 6-1 in 32 minutes. The Polish star notched eight winners and eight unforced errors, while Gauff logged seven winners and 14 unforced errors.

The American teen briefly grabbed momentum, jumping to a 2-0 lead to start the second set as Swiatek uncharacteristically hit five unforced errors in the opening two games. Regaining her composure, Swiatek charged ahead to down Gauff 6-3 in the second to lock up the victory.

With the two competitors holding a combined age of 39 years, Saturday’s final was the youngest at Roland Garros since Iva Majoli, 19, stunned 16-year-old Martina Hingis in 1997.

Gauff and Swiatek’s youthful exuberance was on full display in the post-match trophy ceremony, with both players becoming emotional as they thanked the Roland Garros crowd. Through tears, Gauff acknowledged her team, the fans and even the photographers, thanking them for taking quality snaps of her throughout the tournament.

“Hopefully, this is the first final of many,” Gauff said.

Swiatek was similarly emotional as she addressed the French Open spectators, receiving rapturous applause from the crowd as she honored those suffering in Ukraine amid the war, telling them to “stay strong.”

Freshly 21 as of Tuesday, Swiatek is the fourth-youngest multiple French Open champion in the Open Era, behind Monica Seles, Stefanie Graf and Chris Evert.

Leylah Fernandez is embracing her new nickname of “Clay-lah” after an impressive French Open run on the clay courts at Roland Garros.

The Canadian teen cruised past Amanda Anisimova in a three-set battle before falling to Martina Trevisan in a hard-fought quarterfinal Tuesday.

Despite the loss, the 19-year-old is keeping a positive attitude, tweeting a message to her fans referencing her new moniker.

“While it wasn’t the results we wanted, I fought hard,” wrote Fernandez. “But with every tournament regardless of the outcome…I learn, grow, and will stand back up. I can’t thank you all enough for the support and outpouring of love I’ve received. You’ll see Clay-lah again, don’t you worry.”

Fernandez has proved her staying power after catapulting to the world stage during the 2021 US Open, falling to fellow wunderkind Emma Raducanu in the Grand Slam final. Ranked No. 17 in the world, Fernandez boasts a 66.7 win percentage for the 2022 season.

“I think it’s actually pretty amazing that they came up with ‘Clay-lah’ because I have no creativity for that. I wouldn’t think of that nickname,” said Fernandez.

The young star will now gear up for the grass-court season, with Wimbledon set to kick off on June 27.

Coco Gauff has a chance to sweep the French Open after the 18-year-old and her partner Jessica Pegula advanced to the doubles final at Roland Garros.

The American duo defeated their fellow countrywomen Madison Keys and Taylor Townsend 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in Friday’s semifinal to move on to Sunday’s championship match.

Gauff will have a full schedule as she prepares to take on No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the singles final Saturday.

Last year, Barbora Krejcikova became just the seventh woman ever, and the first since 2000, to win the singles and doubles titles in Paris.

Gauff and Pegula will take on French team Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, who beat Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko in three sets (2-6, 6-4, 6-2) in the other semifinal.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek sailed into her second French Open final in three years with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win against Daria Kasatkina in Thursday’s first semifinal.

She’ll be joined in Saturday’s championship by Coco Gauff. The American teenager bested Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-1 in the second semifinal to reach her first Grand Slam final.

Swiatek becomes the first player to reach six or more finals on the WTA Tour in the first six months of the year since Serena Williams did it back in 2013. Williams reached seven WTA finals in the first half of that year.

The semifinal marked her 34th straight match win, which tied Swiatek with Serena Williams for the second-longest WTA winning streak since 2000. With one more, she’ll tie Venus Williams with 35 wins.

“I try to treat every match the same way,” said Swiatek in the on-court interview after her match. “Basically I’m trying to be really focused on the tasks.”

Thursday’s match lasted 64 minutes and was punctuated by an ace from Swiatek to take the victory. In total, she tallied 22 winners to 13 unforced errors.

The Polish star has won 54 of her last 56 matches, dropping just one in this tournament to Zheng Qinwen in the round of 16.

Gauff, meanwhile, becomes the youngest Grand Slam finalist in 18 years. The 18-year-old also becomes the youngest American finalist since Serena Williams won the 1999 US Open at 17 years old.

She also makes it 2-for-2 for Americans in Grand Slam finals this year, with Danielle Collins reaching the final at the Australian Open. Collins lost that match to Ash Barty.

After her match, Gauff said in her on-court interview that while she’s excited to play in the final, she is going to be “happy regardless” of the result.

“I’m just gonna go into it like any other match,” she said. “Yeah it’s a Grand Slam final, but there’s so many things going on in the world right now — 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.”

Gauff later wrote “End Gun Violence” on the courtside camera.

Top women’s players responded Wednesday to comments made by French Open director Amelie Mauresmo, who said women’s tennis is less attractive and appealing than the men’s game.

Iga Swiatek, who is ranked No. 1 in the world and riding a 34-match win streak into the final at Roland-Garros, spoke ahead of her semifinal match.

“I think women’s tennis has a lot of advantages,” she said. “Some may say [that] it’s unpredictable and girls are not consistent. But on the other hand, it may also be something that … may really attract more people. … For sure I want to entertain, and I also want to show my best tennis on every match. But, yeah, [Mauresmo’s remarks were] a little bit disappointing.”

Jessica Pegula, the No. 11 seed who will move into the top 10 following a career-best result at the French Open, said that Mauresmo’s comments are “not something you want to hear.”

“I think at the same time we need to have chances to have really good matches to show that it is a good product as well,” she added. On top of having a successful singles run at Roland-Garros, Pegula will play in the doubles semifinals with Coco Gauff on Friday.

“I feel like so many people love watching women’s tennis because, you know, we don’t have huge serves. We’re not acing,” Pegula said, pointing to the depth of women’s tennis as an asset. “There’s not a lot of super, super quick points. There’s more rallies. There’s more drama.”

This marks the first year that the French Open features night sessions. Of the 10 total sessions, just one has been a women’s match. Mauresmo defended her scheduling decisions by claiming that women’s tennis has less “appeal.”

Pam Shriver, a 22-time Grand Slam doubles champion, questioned why not one of Swiatek’s matches were chosen for the night session given her current record. Additionally, she called out the way that Mauresmo, a former No. 1 player herself, chose to defend her decision-making.

“Why did she have to insult women’s tennis?” Shriver asked. “It really hurts to have an alumni player, who’s now a tournament director, who made history as a female coach of a top men’s player [Andy Murray], really diss women’s tennis the way she did.

“This is a two-time major winner, someone who is in the Hall of Fame, who is crossing a line that is not acceptable. It was not necessary. Her words today were inexcusable for a leader.”

Mauresmo apologized for her comments while speaking to the Tennis Channel on Thursday.

“First of all, the comments that I made were taken out of the wider picture, out of the context, and I want to say sorry to the players that really felt bad about what I said,” she said.

Men’s matches received priority for the night sessions because women’s matches are shorter, Mauresmo said.

“Because we have one [night] match only it’s really tougher to schedule a woman’s match, because we have to take into consideration the length,” she said. “I feel it’s the fair kind of thing to do for the ticket holders.

“Next year, in order to be able to be more fair to the women players – to both categories actually – it would be good to maybe have the possibility to put on two matches, or maybe a women’s match plus a doubles match, to try to find a better solution to be fair to everyone.”

The semifinals at the French Open are set following an exciting round of quarterfinal matchups. Three out of the four semifinalists will be playing in their first Grand Slam semifinals.

Coco Gauff celebrated graduating high school in May with a trip to her first Grand Slam semifinal. In her quarterfinal matchup against Sloane Stephens, the 18-year-old took control to win 7-5, 6-2.

The match provided redemption for Gauff, who lost to Stephens the last time the two matched up at the U.S. Open in September. Gauff won 40 service points to Stephens’ 25.

The experience from last year’s French Open quarterfinals, which Gauff lost to Barbora Krejcikova, has paid off as Gauff continues to elevate her game and become a more seasoned player.

“I think that was the biggest lesson I learned last year in my quarterfinal match,” Gauff said after her fourth-round win. “I had a couple set points and I think I freaked out when some of those points didn’t go my way.

“[Tuesday] I didn’t freak out when a couple of those important points didn’t go my way.”

Following her match against Stephens, Gauff said she’s focusing on playing more in the moment.

“I feel like last year I was looking at the finish line,” she said. “And now I’m not looking at anything really except that ball in front of me.”

Even if she falls in the semifinals, Gauff stands to return to the top 20 in the world on Monday.

Gauff has had a successful doubles run as well with partner Jessica Pegula. The two are ranked eighth in the draw and will play in Wednesday’s quarterfinals against Anna Bondár and Greet Minnen.

In singles, Gauff will face Martina Trevisan in the semifinals. Trevisan took down Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3 for her first Grand Slam semifinal appearance. She’s also the first Italian woman to reach the Roland-Garros semifinals since Sara Errani in 2013.

It’ll be a Roland-Garros rematch for the two, as they faced each other in 2020 with Trevisan knocking out Gauff in the second round.

Iga Swiatek punctuated her 21st birthday Tuesday with a quarterfinal win Wednesday, advancing past No. 11 Jessica Pegula – the highest remaining player in the draw besides herself – 6-3, 6-2. It was a return to form for the No. 1 seed, who uncharacteristically dropped a set in her previous matchup.

With the win, Swiatek’s unbeaten run has extended to 33 straight matches. She is now in sole possession of the third-longest WTA winning streak this century.

In the first set, Pegula went up 3-2 on Swiatek before the 2020 champion responded, rattling off four straight games to win the set. She further controlled the match in the second set to extend her lead against Pegula in their head-to-head record, moving to 3-1. All three of those wins have come this year.

She’ll face off in the semifinals against Daria Kasatkina, who advanced past Veronika Kudermetova with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win.

Like Gauff and Trevisan, Kasatkina will be playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal. Kudermetova, playing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, broke Kasatkina for a 3-1 lead in the first set before her Russian compatriot took over.

Kasatkina pulled even at 4-4 before taking the lead to win the first set. She went down 5-6 in the second set before battling back to win the tiebreak.

French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has come under fire for her comments during a Wednesday press conference in which she said that women’s tennis has less “appeal” than men’s tennis.

The issue came up when Mauresmo was asked about scheduling just one women’s match during the night sessions out of a possible 10. The other nine slots featured men’s matches, including Tuesday night’s matchup between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

“In this era that we are in, I don’t feel bad or unfair saying that right now you have more attraction, more attractivity [in] general, for the men’s matches,” Mauresmo said.

Mauresmo is a former world No. 1 player on the women’s circuit, having won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006. Following her playing career, Mauresmo began coaching including Andy Murray, Victoria Azarenka and most recently Lucas Pouille.

An International Tennis Hall of Fame member, Mauresmo was named to the tournament post in December. She replaced Guy Forget, who had held the role since 2016. She’s the first female tournament director of Roland-Garros.

Mauresmo said she attempted to slot women’s matches into the night games but that it was “tough.”

“My goal was when I was doing the schedule every day to try and see, and from the first round when the draw came out, to try and see what match in the women’s draw I can put there. The confrontation or the start that I could put there,” she said. “It was tough for more than one night to find the match of the day. A one-match night session is tough on this.”

Coco Gauff has advanced to her first career Grand Slam semifinal after defeating fellow American Sloane Stephens 7-5, 6-2 at the French Open on Tuesday.

But the 18-year-old Gauff said graduating high school was her bigger accomplishment this month.

“Was graduating tougher? Yes, because I know how hard it was to do school and play tennis on the road,” she said after the match. “Other players in general get out of sight with life and we think tennis is the most important thing in the world. It is not.

“So getting my high-school diploma meant a lot to me.”

Tuesday’s quarterfinal at Roland Garros was not the first time that Gauff and Stephens have faced off at such a high level. In a U.S. Open quarterfinal showdown last year, Stephens was the one who came out on top.

“I feel so happy right now that words can’t explain,” Gauff added. “Last year’s quarterfinal was a tough loss and it made me stronger and better prepared for moments like today.

“Last time I played (Stephens) I lost so I’m glad today it went different. I told myself to stay mentally there, and that I know there would be shots that I should probably have made.”

Gauff is the first American semifinalist at the French Open since Sofia Kenin made the final in 2020. Kenin lost to Iga Swiatek, the No. 1 seed at this year’s tournament.

Since 2016, when Serena Williams last made the final, American players have had some success in the late rounds at the French Open. Stephens reached the final in 2018, and Amanda Anisimova made the semifinals in 2019.

This year, two Americans could find themselves in the semifinals. Jessica Pegula will play in her first French Open quarterfinal Wednesday and could join Gauff. She faces a tough test, however, in world No. 1 Swiatek, who hasn’t lost in 32 matches.

Gauff already has secured her spot, and she could make it 2-for-2 on the year for Americans in Grand Slam finals after Danielle Collins made the final at the Australian Open. Collins lost the championship match to Ash Barty.

The last American to win the French Open remains Williams, who won the tournament in 2015. Sofia Kenin was the last American to win a Grand Slam, winning the Australian Open in 2020.

In the semifinals, Gauff will face off against fellow first-time semifinalist Martina Trevisan, who took out Leylah Fernandez in three sets in the quarterfinals.

Trevisan, 28, spent four years away from the game to battle an eating disorder. So to reach the semifinals represented not just a professional but a personal triumph.

“I’m happy on the court,” she said. “I’m doing what I love. So my past is the past, and it helped me to be in the present, to be what I am right now.”

Iga Swiatek advanced to her third French Open quarterfinal Monday after taking down Qinwen Zheng in the fourth round at Roland Garros.

Her all-time French Open record now stands at 18-2.

But the road to her 32nd straight match win wasn’t without bumps. Swiatek dropped the first set to Zheng, 6-7 (7-5) — her first dropped set since Stuttgart, when she dropped the first set of the semifinals to Ludmilla Samsonova.

Zheng had to take an injury timeout in the second set, emerging from the locker room with her right leg wrapped. She continued to favor that leg, losing the second set 6-0.

The wrap was later removed for the third set, but by then Swiatek had found her groove, going up 2-0 before Zheng was able to pull one back and make it 2-1. She would make it 3-2 before Swiatek took over to win the final set 6-2.

She’ll next face Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals.

Camilla Giorgi rallied to beat No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the third round. In the fourth, however, Giorgi lost to Daris Kasatkina 2-6, 2-6. She won just 28 service points to Kasatkina’s 45.

Leylah Fernandez and Belinda Bencic went head to head in the third round with Fernandez coming out on top 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. The match was even keeled, with Fernandez winning 63 service points to Bencic’s 60.

Fernandez then took on Amanda Anisimova in the fourth round, taking down the American 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. It’s her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since advancing to the final at the US Open in 2021.

Veronika Kudermetova advanced to the last 16 after rallying to take down American Madison Keys 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. She won her third round match through a walkover after No. 3 Paula Badosa had to retire from their third round match with a right calf injury. She had been trailing 6-3, 2-1 in the match before retiring.

Already this year, the third-best player in the world had beaten Kudermetova in Indian Wells and Madrid.

Coco Gauff and Sloane Stephens both easily advanced past their third and fourth round opponents. The two will now face off against one another in the quarterfinals.