Coco Gauff has idolized Serena Williams all her life, and she still has a long way to go before earning that level of adulation. Interestingly though, Gauff recently surpassed Serena for a special record. After her 6-1, 6-2 win against Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the third round of the French Open, Gauff became only the second American to reach the French Open Round of 16 as many as 4 times in a row before turning 21.
However, for all her accomplishments on clay, Serena Williams did not achieve this kind of consistency at the French Open at such an early age.
Serena Williams reached the fourth round of the 1998 French Open, which was her debut Grand Slam on clay. But she failed to get past the third round in the next edition, and that broke her streak. After that, she reached the fourth round and the quarter-final of the 2000 and 2001 French Open editions respectively.
Since Gauff is the next breakthrough African-American player after Serena Williams, comparisons are often made between the two players at every step. After Gauff won the 2023 US Open at the age of 19, many people likened it to Serena winning the same Grand Slam at the age of 17 for the first time, back in 1999.
Coco Gauff first made it to the 2021 French Open Round of 16, after beating Aleksandra Krunic, Wang Qiang, and Jennifer Elizabeth Brady. Except for her losses in the first set against Krunic and the second set against Wang, Gauff charged ahead pretty comfortably. She eventually lost to Ons Jabeur 3-6, 1-6. Ironically, Jabeur is again Gauff’s opponent in this year’s quarterfinals in Paris.
At the 2022 French Open, Coco Gauff had the best season of her career till then. She reached the finals after beating the likes of fellow American Sloane Stephens, Elise Mertens, Kaia Kanepi, etc. The then 18-year-old eventually fell to Iga Swiatek by 1-6, 3-6 in the final.
The next year, Gauff looked stronger, beating Rabeka Masarova, Julia Grabher, and Mirra Andreeva in the first three rounds. But her journey ended after a 5-7, 2-6 loss against Anna Schmiedlová.
And this year, Coco Gauff won 6-1, 6-1 against Julia Avdeeva and followed it up with a 6-3, 6-4 against Tamara Zidansek. The American youngster continued her winning run with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Daria Yastremska.
The reigning US Open champion lost the first set against Ons Jabeur, 4-6 but was leading 2-1 in the second set at the time of writing this report. Whatever the outcome of the quarter-final match, Gauff can always look back at this tournament fondly.
Breaking a Jennifer Capriati record comes perhaps just after a Serena Williams one and here’s how the former created history in the early 2000s.
Jennifer Capriati, the Only Other Player Besides Coco Gauff to Achieve This Feat
While Coco Gauff reached her first French Open Round of 16 at age 17, Jennifer Capriati was only 14 years old when she achieved it. Capriati was renowned to be the brightest young talent from Florida-based coach Rick Macci’s academy around the time when Venus and Serena Williams were trying to make it big as well.
Jennifer Capriati went on to reach the semi-finals of the 1990 French Open in her first attempt itself. She beat the likes of Judith Wiesner, Mercedes Paz and Mary Joe Fernandez along the way. Unfortunately for her and American fans, Capriati lost to an in-form Monica Seles, 2-6, 2-6.
The American reached the fourth round in the 1991 edition, in which she lost to Conchita Martinez, 3-6, 3-6.
In 1992 and 1993, Capriati finished as the quarter-finalist. Her biggest achievement was defeating another player who is a long-time Macci favorite, Mary Pierce of France in both those years.
It remains the most dominating performance by a female American player at the Roland Garros before turning 21. Coco Gauff has an opportunity to break that record and make it to the semifinals on Tuesday.
