Aryna Sabalenka is out of the French Open in the quarterfinal stage and that means Coco Gauff is set to be ranked at No. 2 in the world for the first time in her career when the rankings list gets updated on Monday.
After Gauff defeated Ons Jabeur to reach the French Open semifinal, Sabalenka failed to make the last four at Roland Garros after Mirra Andreeva upset the Belarusian 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-4.
Going into the French Open, Sabalenka was 500 points clear ahead of Gauff. But since Gauff lost in the French Open quarterfinal last year and Sabalenka was a semifinalist, it was clear that the American would have a shot at overtaking the Belarusian at the world No. 2 spot at Roland Garros.
Gauff was inches away from replacing Sabalenka at No. 2 in Madrid
In early May, Gauff would have reached the world No. 2 spot had Elena Rybakina defeated Sabalenka in the Madrid semifinal. And in that match, Rybakina easily won the first set and was serving for a two-set win before Sabalenka miraculously recovered to win 1-6 7-5 7-6 (5).
Sabalenka may have narrowly avoided losing the world No. 2 spot a month ago but in Paris she wasn’t able to keep the No. 2 position.
With a new career-high ranking secured, Gauff can turn her focus to landing her second Grand Slam title at the French Open.
On Thursday, Gauff plays against Iga Swiatek in the French Open semifinal. While Gauff has just one win and 10 losses versus Swiatek, she remains confident she can stun the Pole on Thursday.
“I’m just going in it with confidence. 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,'” Gauff said of facing Swiatek.
“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.”