Jabeur ready for ‘a great fight’ vs. Gauff

Two spots in the French Open final four are on the line Tuesday at Roland Garros, where three reigning Grand Slam champions will be in action.

Two-time reigning champion and World No.1 Iga Swiatek continues her march toward a third consecutive French Open title against Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova. US Open champion Coco Gauff will take on a resurgent Ons Jabeur.

Here’s how the matches stack up:

[1] Each Swiatek vs. [5] Marketa Vondrousova

Head-to-head: Swiatek leads 3-0

Iga Swiatek was 19 years old and set to play her second French Open main draw in 2020. It was already a weird tournament. Moved to the autumn because of Covid, everything about the fortnight felt eerie. Then Swiatek saw the draw. She was to face the Marketa Vondrousova, who was the runner-up a year before, in her opening round.

Swiatek lost three games in her first match to kick off one of the most dominant runs to a major title in the sport’s history. She lost only 28 games over seven matches, the second-fewest games dropped en route to the Roland Garros title.

Four years on and Swiatek and Vondrousova will meet again in Paris, this time with a spot in the semifinals on the line. Since that first meeting, Swiatek has become a four-time major champion and a dominant World No.1. Vondrousova overcame a litany of tough injuries to become a major champion herself, winning Wimbledon last year.

In fact, when reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarterfinals Monday, this marked the first time all four reigning Grand Slam champions made the final eight since the 2012 US Open.

Swiatek will be the the heavy favorite. She has yet to lose a set to Vondrousova and comes into the match off her 40-minute demolition job on Anastasia Potapova. Vondrousova has cruised through her first four matches as well, but all her wins came against players ranked outside the Top 100.

[3] Coco Gauff vs. [8] Our Jabeur

Head-to-head: Gauff leads 4-2

After sealing her spot in the first major quarterfinal since Wimbledon last year, Ons Jabeur celebrated with the Tunisian fans in song. It was yet another indelible celebratory moment for the tour’s resident “Minister of Happiness.”

“I sang, and it didn’t rain, so maybe I’ll be a singer,” Jabeur said jokingly.

Can she give herself a change at an encore? Gauff and Jabeur will face off for a seventh time, but for the first time, a spot in the French Open semifinals are on the line. This is well-tread territory for Gauff, who finished runner-up here in 2022.

But Jabeur has never made it past the quarterfinals in Paris. She did win the junior girls’ title in 2011, becoming the first Arab to win a junior Grand Slam since 1964. But the three-time Grand Slam finalist is contesting only her second Roland Garros quarterfinal on Tuesday.

“I have to believe in myself even more, and I have a lot of skills,” Jabeur said. “I can bother her. It’s not going to be easy to win the match, but tactically I’ll be discussing with my coach, and we’ll be ready. We’ll prepare.”

The base tactics are simple: attack Gauff’s second serve and work to break down her forehand. The 20-year-old American is one of the best movers in the game, but Jabeur has the arsenal to keep her off balance and exploit openings.

“She’s such a fighter on the court,” Jabeur said. “I hope I can play good and I can play my game because I know I can bother her as well.

“But it’s going to be definitely a great fight between us.”

The challenge for Gauff will be not looking ahead to the potential semifinal showdown looming with Swiatek. Gauff played one of her better matches against Swiatek in the Rome semifinals two weeks ago and is surely champing at the bit for another crack.

Only one of the six matches between Gauff and Jabeur have gone a full three sets. This will be their first meeting of the season. Gauff rolled in their last, a 6-0, 6-1 win at the WTA Finals in Cancun. She’s also won their two previous meetings on red clay, including a 6-3, 6-1 win at Roland Garros in 2021.