American teenager Coco Gauff has made her first Grand Slam final, where she will meet World Number One and 2020 champion Iga Swiatek
Gauff booked her spot in the final by defeating Italy’s MartinaTrevisan 6-3 6-1.
Following the match, Gauff left a message for her home nation by signing the on court camera “Peace End Gun Violence”.
It comes after a spate of U.S gun crimes have made global headlines, including the murders of 22 people at a Texas primary school.
Speaking after the match Gauff described the lack of action over gun violence in the U.S as “crazy”.
“I woke up this morning and I saw there was another shooting and I think it’s just crazy.” She says.
“That was just a message for people at home to watch, and for people who are all around the world to watch.”
Coco Gauff
“Hopefully it gets into the heads of people in office to change things.” She says.
The victory is another step forward for the young player who rose to prominence in 2019 when she defeated Venus Williams at Wimbledon aged just 15, and has now become the youngest finalist at Roland Garros since 2001.
18yo Coco Gauff is the youngest #RolandGarros finalist since Kim Clijsters in 2001 and the youngest major finalist since Maria Sharapova at 2004 Wimbledon. pic.twitter.com/HKev5Lyccv
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) June 2, 2022
Earlier in the day, World Number One Iga Swiatek reached the final by sweeping past 20th seed Daria Kasatkina 6-2 6-1.
Swiatek is on a 34 match winning streak, and if she wins Saturday’s final will equal Venus Williams’ 21st century record streak which was set in 2000.
The Pole hasn’t lost a match since she claimed the number one ranking following the retirement of Ash Barty.
Bryan Hoadley contributed to this post.
