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.

Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to 31 matches, downing Danka Kovinic in the third of the French Open on Saturday.

The No. 1 seed is now just one victory away from tying Justine Henin’s 32 straight match wins in 2007-08.

“For sure, I felt like she used my power in some moments, so I had to adjust a little bit more to what she was playing, and for sure played a little bit more smart,” Swiatek said of the matchup.

The 20-year-old will next take on Qinwen Zheng in the Round of 16.

The other two remaining top-10 seeds were bounced from Paris on Saturday, with No. 3 Paula Badosa retiring in her second set due to a right calf injury, handing Veronika Kudermetova the walkover victory.

No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka was upset as well, with Camila Giorgi of Italy besting the 24-year-old 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 in their third-round matchup. The No. 28 seed has now won five of her last seven matches against top-10 players.

With both sides deploying an aggressive strategy, Giorgi ultimately played a cleaner game, logging three more winners and five fewer unforced errors than Sabalenka.

Giorgi will take on No. 20 Daria Kasatkina in the Italian’s first French Open Round of 16 appearance.

Jessica Pegula is the second-highest ranked player entering the fourth round after downing No. 24 Tamara Zidanšek Saturday. The American won 63 percent of her first serve points and boasted a 74 percent win percentage on her second serve to take out last year’s semifinalist.

Another American advanced Saturday, with No. 22 Madison Keys bouncing No. 16 Elena Rybakina in a three-set thriller.

The 27-year-old dropped the first set 3-6 before charging to a 6-1 second set and capturing the third 7-6 (10-3) to move on to her first fourth-round appearance at Roland Garros since 2019.

No. 17 seed Leylah Fernandez advanced to the fourth round of the French Open for the first time in her career after defeating No. 14 seed Belinda Bencic 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 Friday.

The two-hour, 49-minute contest was a battle, with Fernandez pulling out the win on the margins, slowly growing into her serve as the match went on.

Friday’s victory lifts the 19-year-old back to the second week of a Grand Slam after her staggering run at last season’s US Open.

Fernandez will face off against clay-court talent Amanda Anisimova in the fourth round at Roland Garros.

Americans No. 18 Coco Gauff and Sloane Stephens also advanced in Paris, with Gauff downing upset expert Kaia Kanepi. The 18-year-old cruised past the Estonian veteran in straight sets, surviving Kanepi after she took out Muguruza in the major’s first round.

“I think that now I feel like mentally I’m in a better place than I was last year, coming into the second week I think sometimes that’s what makes Grand Slams harder is because it is two weeks and there is no other way to prepare for two weeks of playing,” Gauff said.

Stephens also halted an upset run, downing Diane Parry 6-2, 6-3 after the Frenchwoman took out No. 2 Barbora Kerjcikova in the opening round. The 29-year-old moves on to her eighth Round of 16 appearance in Paris, where she will face Jil Teichmann, who bounced No. 15 Victoria Azarenka Friday.

No. 23 seed Teichmann battled back from a set and break down to defeat Azarenka 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) in a thrilling three-hour and 18-minute affair. Friday’s victory marks the 24-year-old’s 10th win in her last 12 matches on clay, advancing her to her first Grand Slam Round of 16.

A deluge of upsets swept through the first two rounds of the French Open, and now just three of the top 10 seeds remain in the draw at Roland Garros.

The final day of the second round Thursday featured two more top-10 upsets, as both No. 9 Danielle Collins and No. 8 Karolina Pliskova were ousted from the tournament. Of the top 10, just No. 1 Iga Swiatek, No. 3 Paula Badosa and No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the tournament’s third round.

Swiatek and Sabalenka each took care of their second-round opponents with relative ease.

Swiatek beat Alison Riske 6-0, 6-2 for her 30th consecutive match win. She becomes just the fourth player in this century to have won more than 30 matches in a row, joining Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Justine Henin.

She has won 46 out of the last 47 sets that she has played, starting with the Round of 16 at Indian Wells. Since then, she has dropped only one set to Liudmila Samsonova in the Stuttgart Open semifinals.

Sabalenka, meanwhile, defeated Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3.

Badosa took her match against Kaja Juvan in three sets, riding the ups and downs to a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win.

Pliskova was ousted by wildcard Leolia Jeanjean, who hadn’t played in a contested tour-level main draw until this week. It was the first career top-10 win for the French player.

Of the top 10 seeds, No. 10 Garbiñe Muguruza, No. 9 Collins, No. 8 Pliskova, No. 6 Ons Jabeur, No. 5 Anett Kontaveit, No. 4 Maria Sakkari and No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova have all exited the tournament.

Elsewhere:

  • Sloane Stephens took down world No. 26th Sorana Cirstea 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.
  • No. 14 Belinda Bencic bested Bianca Andreescu 6-2, 6-4.
  • No. 18 Coco Gauff downed Alison Van Uytvanck 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).
  • Kaia Kanepi continued her run, beating Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-4, 6-4.
  • No. 21 Angelique Keber beat Elsa Jacquemot 6-1, 7-6 (7-2).
  • No. 15 Victoria Azarenka advanced past Andrew Petkovic 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).
  • No. 11 Jessica Pegula beat Anhelina Kalinina 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.

Amanda Anisimova, at just 20 years old, has already become well acquainted with the highs and lows of tennis.

This year, she’s been riding one of the highs, defeating four players ranked in the top 20 to bring her career total of top-20 victories to 10. The run started with her upset of then-No. 14 Noami Osaka at the Australian Open, where she advanced to the fourth round before losing to eventual champion Ash Barty. At the Madrid Open, she took down No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka (her second career top-10 win over the Belarusian star) and No. 17 Victoria Azarenka.

Then on Monday, Anisimova again ousted Osaka from a Grand Slam in the first round of the French Open. The win was not technically an upset since Anisimova is currently ranked 10 spots higher than No. 38 Osaka, but it garnered national attention nonetheless.

“It’s always enjoyable to accept the challenge, even when it’s a tough match, and push yourself and see how far you can go,” Anisimova said after the win. “I enjoy these matches, even though they’re very tough … especially when you get to win them.”

Anisimova’s breakout moment came in 2019 when she was just 17. At the French Open, the New Jersey native stunned defending champion Simona Halep 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semifinals. She called her performance the “best tennis of my life.”

“I don’t know how, and I don’t know how I did it, but it just happened,” she said at the time. “I mean, it’s crazy. I really can’t believe the result today. And getting the opportunity to play against Simona, that’s amazing, but how it ended is even crazier to me.”

That same year, she won her first WTA title at the Copa Colsanitas and earned a career-high No. 21 world ranking.

Since then, however, Anisimova has had to fight to maintain her form and rank.

“At the time, I didn’t even really realize it,” Anisimova said in an interview with WTA in 2021. “It just happened, and I was really young. It’s just kind of grown on me over the last couple of years.

“It wasn’t probably as crazy as everyone thought it was to me. I thought it was kind of normal, because it just happened over the course of two weeks. Getting the confidence over the next couple of years kind of went with that achievement.”

At the height of Anisimova’s rise in tennis, tragedy struck. Her father and longtime coach, Konstantin, died of a heart attack in August 2019 at the age of 52. She withdrew from the U.S. Open that year and returned to competition briefly in September before cutting her season short.

“The only thing that has helped me is just playing tennis and being on the court,” she told the New York Times in January 2020. “That’s what makes me happy, and I know it would make him happy, so that’s the way it is.”

Anisimova went 11-9 in 2020, dealing with multiple injuries as she tried to rediscover her form from the year prior. She had some success in 2021 — including a quarterfinal appearance at the Emilia-Romagna Open — but finished the year 14-15 and fell out of the top 75.

Entering this season ranked No. 78 in the world, Anisimova has looked much like her old self. In her very first tournament of 2022, the Melbourne Summer Set 2, she made her first finals appearance since 2019 and won her second career WTA title. Since then, she’s been on a tear — particularly on clay, where she is 10-3 this season — and has soared to a No. 28 ranking, just seven shy of her career high.

One of the best players on clay, Anisimova looks poised for another deep run this month at the French Open, where the women’s field continues to open up with each early-round upset. After dismantling Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-4 in the first round, she defeated Donna Vekic in the second round on Wednesday, 6-4, 6-1.

Following her win over Osaka, Anisimova called the anticipation in the lead-up to the match “difficult.”

“I was trying not to think about it too much, but going into the match, I did feel the stress and the nerves a bit because it is a very tough first round,” she said. “I’m just happy with how I was able to manage it and get through it.”

In just the first few years of her professional career, Anisimova has faced tremendous adversity. Already in 2022, it’s looking like she’s come out stronger for it on the other side, ready to realize the potential of her talents.

“I just have a lot of confidence right now with all the tournaments that I have played so far, so I’m just happy,” she said.

Emma Hruby is an Associate Editor at Just Women’s Sports.

Both Maria Sakkari and Emma Raducanu fell to their second-round opponents at the French Open on Wednesday, continuing a string of upsets in the tournament’s first three days.

With Sakkari out, five of the top 10 seeds have now been ousted from the tournament.

Karolina Muchova, currently ranked 81st in the world, fought hard against Sakkari, ranked No. 3, and ultimately prevailed 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4). She earned her sixth win over a top-10 opponent and fourth over a player ranked at No. 5 or higher.

Muchova will meet Amanda Anisimova in the third round after Anisimova took down Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-1 in the second round.

Aliaksandra Sasnovich once again played spoiler to Raducanu, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. She had previously beaten Raducanu at Indian Wells – the teenager’s first match after winning the US Open as a qualifier.

Raducanu fought hard but ultimately fell flat. She lacked in the drop-shot, which Sasnovich utilized handedly to beat the world No. 12. Sasnovich hit 45 winners to 24 unforced errors compared to Raducanu’s 17 winners and 33 unforced errors.

The French Open kicked off Sunday at Roland Garros, with players meeting on the famous red clay courts for the second Grand Slam of the tennis season. The surface can be tricky, often leading to long rallies and the potential for thrilling upsets, as we’ve seen through the first two days of the tournament.

Ons Jabeur, for example, entered Roland Garros as a heavy favorite with a 17-3 record on clay, the best this season. In the first major shocker of the tournament, the No. 6-ranked player fell to Magda Linette Sunday. Barbora Krejčíková, another strong clay player and the reigning French Open champion, was upset the next day, losing in three sets to French teenager Diane Parry on Monday.

As the French Open continues, we run down the best women’s tennis players on clay still remaining in the field.

Iga Świątek

Iga Świątek is on a tear, riding a 28-match win streak into the French Open. The current world No. 1 looks unbeatable on any surface, but especially on clay, where she’s started the season 9-0. Świątek’s aggressive hitting from the baseline has helped her win five straight WTA titles, the latest coming in Rome. She easily handled first-round opponent Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-0 on Monday to advance to the second round.

What makes Świątek particularly dangerous on clay is her ability to move with ease and slide on defense to keep her in points. With her forehand packing an even harder punch on clay, Świątek has all the tools to claim her second French Open title in Roland Garros.

Simona Halep

Simona Halep has been deemed the queen of clay, winning the French Open in 2018. The Romanian star has the ability to stay in long rallies with her defense and ability to slide seamlessly, often shifting momentum in her favor.

The 30-year-old holds a 4-2 record on clay this season, with her best result a quarterfinal finish in Madrid.

Jabeur’s early exit opens the door for Halep, under new coach Patrick Mouratoglou, to test Świątek at the French Open. Halep begins her French Open campaign Tuesday against Nastasja Mariana Schunk.

Paula Badosa

No. 3 Paula Badosa calls clay her favorite surface, where her aggressive baseline game puts opponents under pressure from start to finish.

“You all know that clay court is my favorite surface, but that also makes it tricky because maybe they think you are even more favorite and now they play better against you,” Badosa told WTA Insider.

The Spaniard has a 6-4 record on clay this season, including a semifinal run at Stuttgart in April. Badosa will look to improve upon last year’s quarterfinal appearance at the French Open as she seeks her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. She meets Fiona Ferro in the first round Tuesday.

Aryna Sabalenka

No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka takes an impressive 7-4 clay record into Roland Garros, having made runs to both the Stuttgart finals and the Rome semifinals. Overall on clay, the 24-year-old has made the final in Stuttgart twice and won the Madrid Open.

Sabalenka’s dominance on the surface, however, hasn’t translated to Roland Garros. The Belarusian star has made the semifinals of every Grand Slam except the French Open.

Sabalenka begins her quest for her first major title against Chloé Paquet in the first round Tuesday.

Amanda Anisimova

Amanda Anisimova’s best results have come on clay, including her first WTA title in Bogotá in 2019.

The American holds a 10-3 record on the surface this season, reaching the quarterfinals in Rome and Madrid and the semifinals in Charleston. The 20-year-old has also had success at Roland Garros, making a semifinal run at the Grand Slam in 2019.

Anisimova, the No. 27 seed, is already off to a roaring start, defeating Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-4 in the first round Monday and riding the momentum into her second-round matchup with Donna Vekic.

The upsets continued in the first round of the French Open as French teenager Diane Parry ousted No. 2 seed and reigning Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova. The 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 win for Parry is her first over a player ranked in the top 50.

Krejcikova is the third top-10 player out in the first round following No. 6 Ons Jabeur and No. 10 Garbine Muguruza. Naomi Osaka also is out after a tough first-round matchup against Amanda Anisimova.

Krejcikova started out the match against Parry with a double fault before rattling off 15 straight points to take a 6-1, 2-0 lead.

The world No. 2 was playing in her first match in over three months, as she had been dealing with a right elbow injury since the Qatar Open in February. She’s one of just three defending champions to have lost in the first round one year after winning the title.

The 19-year-old Parry entered the day 1-5 in career Grand Slam matches, ranked 97th in the world.

“It’s a dream for me. It was always a dream to play on this court, with the French crowd to support me. They clearly pushed me to victory today,” Parry said. “I’m the happiest person right now.

“It’s never easy to start on this kind of court against the defending champion. You can get a bit tight, which happened in the first set. But then I managed to relax.”

While top-seeded Iga Swiatek took care of business 6-2, 6-0, other top names didn’t fare so well. Victoria Azarenka took down Ana Bogdan after mounting a comeback in three sets, 6-7 (9-7), 7-6 (7-1), 6-2. Bianca Andreescu also had to mount a comeback, taking down Ysaline Bonaventure 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.

The Mississippi State softball team won twice Sunday to advance to the program’s first-ever Super Regional, taking down No. 2 Florida State in back-to-back games during the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament.

After losing to North Texas in the regional’s first game, the Bulldogs rattled off wins in their next two to advance to Sunday’s matchup against the Seminoles. They needed to win twice, and they did.

In the first game, Mississippi State shut out Florida State 5-0 to force the winner-take-all regional final. They also snapped the Seminoles’ 24-game regional winning streak, the longest active streak in the nation.

Then, in the second game, the Bulldogs found themselves having to fight back.

Florida State went up 3-1 in the first two innings thanks to a Sydney Sherrill home run that put the Seminoles up 2-0. That score would stand until the fifth inning, when the Bulldogs rattled off three runs.

From there, Mississippi State’s defense stood tall. Florida State had two runners in scoring position and one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Bulldogs didn’t relent and the Seminoles went scoreless.

“Honestly, it gives you all the confidence in the world,” said Annie Willis on the team’s defense. “Knowing that that defense is out there behind me, it gives me the ability to be calm on the mound and trust that no matter what the outcome is of that pitch that I throw, the defense is going to make the play.

“Even if we mess it up and we make an error or whatever we come right and that is all of us all bought in all for each other type of mentality.”