Gauff blitzes Trevisan to reach French Open final

AFP / THOMAS SAMSON

American teenager Coco Gauff crushed Italy's Martina Trevisan 6-3 6-1 to become the youngest French Open finalist in 21 years and set up a showcase clash with world number one Iga Swiatek.

The 18-year-old, who was already in unknown Grand Slam territory with her first semi-final spot, will next face Polish top seed Swiatek, who cruised into Saturday's final with a 6-2 6-1 demolition of Russian Daria Kasatkina to stretch her winning run to 34 matches.

Gauff, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament and is the youngest finalist at any Grand Slam in 18 years, needed time to find her range, trading two early breaks each with Trevisan.

Once she found a way to neutralise the left-hander's punishing forehand, however, Gauff breezed through the first set by winning the last three games.

The 28-year-old Trevisan, bidding to become the lowest ranked finalist in the event's history, took a medical break to strap up her right calf.

Things only got worse for her, though, as she piled up 36 errors in total with Gauff stepping in to whip her backhands deep and move her opponent around.

She also kept attacking her serve as the Italian managed only a low 46% win rate on her first delivery.

Ranked 23rd in the world, Gauff broke her again in a game lasting 14 minutes to go 3-1 up and never looked back, sealing her biggest career victory on her first match point.

"If I do lift the trophy, honestly, I don't think my life is going to change really," Gauff said. "I know it sounds kind of bad to say that, but the people who love me are still going to love me regardless if I lift the trophy or not."

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