Coco Gauff Is Last Hope for U.S. to End French Open Drought

An American has not won a French Open singles title in more than a decade. Coco Gauff is the country’s last hope of ending the drought this year.

Gauff defeated fellow American Madison Keys in the quarterfinals Wednesday to advance to her second consecutive semifinals at Roland-Garros. She is the last remaining American in the tournament, man or woman, after Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe were knocked out in the men’s quarterfinals Tuesday.

The last American to win the French Open was Serena Williams in 2015, the longest gap among the four Grand Slams. The last American man was Andre Agassi in 1999.

Gauff was the last U.S. player to reach the finals of the lone Grand Slam played on clay back in 2022, the first Grand Slam final of her career. She was 18 years old at the time, and she has since won one Grand Slam (2023 US Open), hit her career-high ranking (No. 2), and amassed more than $24.3 million in career earnings. 

Now 21, Gauff will face France’s own Lois Boisson, the biggest Cinderella story of the tournament, who entered the French Open ranked No. 361. Gauff, however, will likely be up against the Paris crowd Thursday—something she said she’s had to deal with before. 

“I think there are two ways I have done it in the past. Either, A: just pretend they’re cheering for you, and B: just using it and not letting that get to you,” Gauff told reporters Wednesday.

While Gauff (-500) is the odds-on favorite to beat Boisson, she may not be favored regardless of whoever comes out of the other side of the bracket. Gauff will either face four-time French Open champion Iga Świątek, who has eliminated her from the Grand Slam in three consecutive years, or world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

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Even if Gauff is unable to secure a title at Roland-Garros, the tournament was still a massive step in the right direction for U.S. tennis. Eight Americans made the round of 16 this year, the most in the last 40 years.

Five women made it (Amanda Anisimova, Gauff, Keys, Jessica Pegula, Hailey Baptiste), and three men (Paul, Tiafoe, Ben Shelton). Four advanced to the quarterfinals, including Paul and Tiafoe—the first time multiple men have made the final eight at Roland-Garros since 1995.

Clay is historically one of the weaker courts for U.S. players, as hard courts are more common locally while clay courts are common in Europe.