"Cocofina, always my girl, let's get this title" - Sloane Stephens picks Coco Gauff to win French Open after losing to American teenager in QF

Coco Gauff and Sloane Stephens battled it out in an all-American clash on Court Philippe-Chatrier in the quarterfinals of the 2022 French Open on Tuesday. The teenager reached her first Grand Slam semifinal after besting Stephens 7-5, 6-2.

Gauff was considered one of the dark horses heading into the tournament and has definitely lived up to the billing so far with her performances. Gauff and Stephens have known each other for a long time and are good friends off the tour. In an Instagram post following her loss, Stephens praised Gauff and picked her to win the title.

"Cocofina, always my girl ! Lets get this title," Stephens said in her Instagram post.

In an interview with tennis.com, Stephens lauded Gauff, stating that she's earned her spot in the last four and has worked hard and played some good tennis to reach this position.

“I think obviously she's worked really hard to get to this position, and to make the semifinals of a Slam, she's obviously earned it and played some really good tennis,” Stephens said.

Mental wellness is a big part of the modern game and Coco Gauff elaborated on the contrast in her approach in the past few years to this fortnight. The American stated that on previous visits, she was hyper-focused on tennis and didn't take any time off, but is "just enjoying life" now.

“I’m just enjoying life, before I would just be so hyper-focused, I wouldn’t even walk around the city because I thought it had to be tennis, tennis, tennis,” Gauff said.

Coco Gauff is the youngest major semifinalist since Amanda Anisimova in 2019

Amanda Anisimova at the 2019 French Open - Day Thirteen

Coco Gauff is the youngest player since Amanda Anisimova to reach the last four of a Slam. The then 17-year-old became the youngest American to reach the semifinals of a Major at the 2019 French Open. Anisimova picked up multiple top-20 wins en route to the last four, ousting Aryna Sabalenka and Simona Halep before falling short to eventual champion Ashleigh Barty.

Coco Gauff, meanwhile, will lock horns against Martina Trevisan in the semifinals. The American said that she will look to avoid a repeat of her serving performance from last time and added that Trevisan was a tricky opponent on clay. Gauff served 19 double faults in their previous encounter at the 2020 French Open.

“Playing Trevisan, yeah, I remember that match pretty clearly, I threw in a lot of double faults. I think I was in double digits with double faults. I'm not going to do that this time around. And also, I mean, she's a tricky player to play on clay, a tricky lefty,” Coco Gauff said.