Early on, Garcia was playing high-stakes tennis and landing shots where he wanted, sometimes right at Gauff’s feet, sometimes well away. In contrast to the early success experienced by Gauff, aged just 18, it has been a long journey for Garcia, who can now play in the first Grand Slam semi-final of her career at the age of 28. No. 17 Garcia took charge from the start and never let up in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 12 Gauff at Arthur Ashe Stadium. “I just go for my shots,” Garcia said, “even when I’m stressed.” She had lost both of her previous matches to Gauff, who was runner-up at the French Open in June, but was by far the better player this time around. 2 Related “Her level was great and I knew it was going to be great coming in and I feel like I didn’t play at the level I needed to to come out with the win today — but overall I’m very proud of myself for this tournament,” Gauff said . “But I’m hungry for more, so maybe next year.” Garcia, who is from France, has not dropped a set at Flushing Meadows so far this year and extended her winning streak to 13 matches in total, cementing her status as someone who is playing as well as anyone in women’s tennis this season. dot. He finished last season in 74th place, but is now projected to break into the top 10 next week. “In the last two months,” Garcia said, “I’ve been feeling healthy again.” She will face Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur of Tunisia on Thursday with a place in the final at stake. “I’m looking forward to the next challenge and what I can accomplish,” Garcia said. Jabeur became the first woman representing an African nation to reach the semifinals at the US Open during the professional era with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Serena Williams third-rounder Ajla Tomljanovic . Jabeur said her run to the title match at the All England Club allowed her to “believe in myself more” and realize, “I had it in me that I can win a Grand Slam.” Tomljanovic exchanged a long hug in the net with Jabeur, who is a close friend, after the match. “I’m just trying to do my job and hopefully inspire more and more generations from Africa,” Jabeur said. “It really means a lot to me.” In the Garcia vs. Gauff match, it was 4-0 with just 17 minutes to go as the crowd was still on board. Overall, there was less vociferous support for Gauff than she heard in her previous Ashe win. • Qualifies for the first major semi-final of his career. the first French woman to make a major semifinal since Marion Bartoli’s Wimbledon title in 2013• The third French woman since the Open era started in 1968 to reach the US Open semifinals, with Amelie Mauresmo (2002 & 2006) and Mary Pierce (2005) won 29 of her last 33 matches at the tournament level dating back to her Bad Homburg title debut on grass just before Wimbledon (most wins on the WTA Tour in that span)• Won 8 of 10 matches in the match that lasted 9 + shots; she was broken just once in 10 service games on Tuesday and in total has held 42 of her 45 service games this tournament During that fairly perfect start, Garcia closed out a 17-stroke exchange with an underhanded forehand winner. She raised a fist and held this pose looking at her guest box where her father and coach were at their feet. It was a sequence that would repeat itself. Both are big servers: Gauff hit the fastest serve by a woman in the tournament this year, at 128 mph. Garcia leads the WTA in aces in 2022. Each served one at 117 mph in her opening service game. But it was Garcia who read Gough’s offerings far more effectively. Garcia often came back deep enough to seemingly surprise Gough, who was quick to respond. After one of Gauff’s many attempted answers landed in the net, she raised her racket toward the ground, as if to indicate, “Why do they keep landing there?” That kind of constant pressure, and Garcia’s tendency to stay too far inside the baseline to receive second serves, could have contributed to Gauff’s six double faults. Garcia also quickly gained the upper hand from the baseline with her clean, sharp strokes. During a brief television interview en route from the locker room to the stadium, Garcia had said she hoped to be “more aggressive.” It certainly was. In a nod to her volleyball expertise — something she has shown in doubles, where she won two Grand Slam titles with French partner Kristina Mladenovic — Garcia stepped up whenever an opening presented itself. He scored 13 of 16 points when he went to the net. Instead of fearing and trying to stay away from Gauff’s stronger backhand side, Garcia went after it, making repeated mistakes. “I had a lot of unforced errors today. I think I had a couple of balls where I could have finished the point, especially when it was going into the net — I missed a lot of passing shots when they were open,” Gauff said. he said. “I think I just need to cut back [the unforced errors]especially when you’re playing an aggressive player like Caroline — you can’t make as many unforced errors.” Gauff occasionally showed some frustration in her game, hitting herself in the thigh or hitting her racket on a towel rack in the yard. She was trying to become the youngest American to reach the US Open semifinals since Serena Williams won her first Grand Slam title in New York in 1999 at the age of 17. Garcia wouldn’t allow it. The Associated Press and ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
