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French Open 2021: Coco Gauff falls to Barbora Krejcikova, eliminating final American in singles
Wednesday is the final day of quarterfinals at the French Open, where four men and four women are vying for the final two spots in their semifinals. We've got big names like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on the court, and Coco Gauff is attempting to get to the semis at a Grand Slam for the very first time.
Follow along below for all of Wednesday's results.
Coco Gauff falls to Barbora Krejcikova
Gauff, the final American woman or man left standing in the singles portion of the French Open, is headed home after being defeated by unseeded Czech player Barbora Krejcikova 7-6 (6), 6-3.
It was the very first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal for Gauff and Krejcikova, and both were riding nine-match winning streaks coming into Wednesday. Their resolve was put to the test in the grueling 70-minute first set. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead, Gauff was up 5-3 and had five different chances to put the match away, but Krejcikova saved all five set points and staged a comeback to force a tiebreak.
After losing the tiebreak, Gauff was never able to re-steady herself. At one point in the second set she double faulted, then proceeded to smash her racket on the ground in frustration. By then, the set and the match were falling through her fingers and she wasn't able to pull herself back into it.
Krejcikova, ranked No. 33 by the WTA, has been a wrecking ball through every round of the French Open. She lost the very first set she played in Round 1, but hasn't lost a single one since. She started by beating fellow Czech player Karolina Pliskova, then took down No. 32 Ekaterina Alexandrova in Round 2 followed by fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina. She defeated the resurgent Sloane Stephens in Round 4, and is headed to her first Grand Slam semifinal after beating Gauff.
After the match, Krejcikova praised the 17-year-old Gauff.
Respect ? ❤️#RolandGarros | @BKrejcikova | @CocoGauffpic.twitter.com/Hx4rQf1ou5
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2021
Krejcikova will face Greece's Maria Sakkari in the semifinals.
Maria Sakkari defeats defending champ Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, won't be repeating in 2021. Maria Sakkari, seeded 17th, shocked the 8th-seeded Swiatek 6-4, 6-4 to advance to her very first Grand Slam semifinal.
Sakkari went down 2-0 in the first set to Swiatek, who is a clay specialist, but bounced back quickly. She won eight of the next 10 games to snap Swiatek's 22-set win streak at Roland Garros.
Sakk ATTACK ?
No.17 seed Maria Sakkari breaks Iga Swiatek’s consecutive sets won streak at ⓶⓶, taking the first 6-4. #RolandGarrospic.twitter.com/Kvzbi7qXxw
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2021
Swiatek was broken in the first game of the second set, and lost the second game to go down 2-0. She then called for a medical timeout to have her leg taped, and was able to regroup somewhat after she returned. Down 5-4, she was able to stave off two match points to extend the game, but Sakkari was successful on the third try.
"I thought about it a lot of times that maybe that was my ceiling and I could not get any higher in the rankings, playing better in tournaments," Sakkari said after the match. "But this year I proved to myself that I'm actually playing really good.
"I beat a lot of good players. Probably also I had the right people around me saying that I can do it, [which] gave me a lot of confidence in achieving that."
Sakkari is now the highest-ranked woman left in the singles portion of the French Open, and she's the first Greek woman to advance to the semifinals at a Grand Slam tournament. She'll face Barbora Krejcikova in the semis.
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