Coco Gauff is set to reach a significant WTA Rankings milestone after Aryna Sabalenka’s quarter-final exit at the 2024 French Open.
The 20-year-old American star will face world No 1 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals at Roland Garros on Thursday as she continues her bid to win a second Grand Slam title.
Gauff defeated world No 9 Ons Jabeur 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals at the clay-court Major on Tuesday. She has now made the last four at three straight Grand Slams.
The US Open champion has been chasing world No 2 Sabalenka in recent months and she will now overtake the Belarusian to reach a new career-high ranking.
Gauff will climb above the two-time Australian Open champion into the world No 2 position when the WTA Rankings update after the conclusion of Roland Garros on Monday.
Sabalenka, who was a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year, is set to drop 350 points after her three-set loss to Mirra Andreeva in the last eight. This will see the 26-year-old’s points total drop from 8,138 to 7,788.
Gauff, meanwhile, has already gained 350 points as she has bettered her quarter-final result at last year’s French Open by making the last four.
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Gauff’s points total has increased from 7,638 before the tournament to 7,988 — taking her 200 points clear of Sabalenka in the live rankings.
If Gauff overcomes Swiatek and loses in the final, she will have 8,508 points, and her tally could climb as high as 9,208 if she secures the title.
Gauff looked ahead to her 12th encounter with Swiatek, who is looking to win her fourth Roland Garros crown in five years.
“I’m just going in it with confidence,” Gauff said. “When I played her in Cincinnati, I didn’t go into the match thinking, ‘Oh I’ve never beaten her before, never taken a set off of her’.”
“I can’t think about past players, you know, Potapova isn’t me, I’m not Vondrousova, maybe I could lose with the same score, maybe not. I’m just gonna go in and just try to win. I’ve nothing to lose, all the pressure’s on her.
“I have to find a better way to play her than the last time I played on clay because I’ve obviously been unsuccessful the last couple of times we played.
“She’s definitely a tough opponent for me and for anybody but yeah, I’ll just have to go back and watch and try to find what I have to do. But I’m going to go into the match with a lot of belief that I can.”
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