French Open: Coco Gauff digs deep to beat Keys and will face 361st-ranked Boisson in the semifinals

PARIS (AP) — Coco Gauff kept double-faulting. She kept missing plenty of other strokes. She kept losing games in bunches. And all the while, she would let out a sigh or bow her head or look generally uncomfortable.

What the 21-year-old Gauff never did Wednesday during a tense and topsy-turvy French Open quarterfinal against another American woman with a Grand Slam title, Madison Keys, was give up hope or go away. And, in a contest filled with plenty of mistakes, it was Gauff who emerged to grab eight of the last nine games for a 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1 victory over Keys and a third trip to the semifinals at Roland-Garros.

“I have had that in me from a young age," said the No. 2-seeded Gauff, who won the 2023 U.S. Open as a teenager and was the French Open runner-up the year before. “When times become more difficult, knowing that I can dig deep in those tough moments.”

Where did that come from?

“Just a love to win, the will to win. It's not something that’s taught or anything. It’s just I have always had that in me, and not just in tennis but in everything. I’m a very competitive person,” she said. “My philosophy is if I can just leave it all out there, then the loss will hurt a lot less than regrets of maybe not giving it your all.”

Gauff needed to overcame 10 double-faults — three in the opening tiebreaker alone — and the first set she’s dropped in the tournament, as well as deal with the big-hitting Keys, the No. 7 seed, who entered with an 11-match Grand Slam winning streak after her title at the Australian Open in January.

They combined for 101 unforced errors and just 40 winners across more than two hours under a closed roof at Court Philippe-Chatrier on a drizzly, chilly day.

Nearly half of the games — 14 of 29 — featured breaks of serve. But from 4-all in the second set, Gauff held four times in a row while pulling away. She made two unforced errors in the last set, including just one double-fault.

After falling behind 4-1 at the start, and twice being a single point from trailing 5-1, Gauff switched to a racket with a different tension in the strings to see if that would help.

“Maybe it did, and maybe it didn’t. I’d like to think that it helped a little bit," she said. "Sometimes that stuff could just be mental. Maybe you’re thinking, 'Oh, I changed my racket, I’m going to play better, and you start doing it. I don’t know.”

She'll play Thursday for a berth in another major final, facing 361st-ranked French wild-card entry Loïs Boisson, who is on one of the most stunning runs in tennis history. Boisson beat No. 6 Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the quarterfinals to follow up her upset of No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the fourth round.

Boisson, 22, is the first woman to reach the semifinals in her Grand Slam debut since 1989, when Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati both did it at the French Open. A crowd that offered support to Gauff against Keys via shouts of “Allez, Coco!” was raucous as can be behind Boisson, rattling the 18-year-old Andreeva.

The other women's semifinal is quite a matchup: three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek vs. No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka. They advanced with quarterfinal victories Tuesday.

It was Swiatek who stopped Gauff at Roland-Garros in the semifinals last year and in the final three years ago.

“I have a lot more work left to do,” said Gauff, who raised her arms overhead then spread them wide apart after the last point against Keys, “but I'm going to savor this one today.”

Repeatedly, Gauff scrambled this way or that to get her racket on a shot from Keys and send it back, often leading to a miss.

“The court being a little bit slower, coupled with the fact that she covers the court so well, just put a little bit of pressure on me to go a little bit more for my shots and maybe press a little bit too much, too soon,” said Keys, who occasionally admonished herself with a slap on her right leg.

“There were a lot of points where I felt like, playing someone else," Keys said, “I would have won the point.”

France's Lois Boisson celebrates as she won the quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open against Russia's Mirra Andreeva at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

The roof of the center court Philippe Chatrier is closed due to the rain as Coco Gauff of the U.S. plays a shot against Madison Keys of the U.S. during the quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates as she won the quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open against Madison Keys of the U.S. at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. reacts as she plays against Madison Keys of the U.S. during their quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Madison Keys of the U.S. walks during the quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open against Coco Gauff of the U.S. at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. plays a shot against Madison Keys of the U.S. during their quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. plays a shot against Madison Keys of the U.S. during their quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

The roof of the center court Philippe Chatrier is closed due to the rain as Coco Gauff of the U.S. plays a shot against Madison Keys of the U.S. during the quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lamar Jackson thought it was over. That the Baltimore Ravens' unwieldy season would end up in a familiar spot: the playoffs.

Then, rookie kicker Tyler Loop's potential game-winning field goal from 44 yards out drifted a little right. And then a little further right. And then a little further right still.

By the time it fluttered well wide of the goalposts, the playoffs were gone. So was Jackson's certainty after a 26-24 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night sent the Ravens into what could be a turbulent offseason.

“I'm definitely stunned, man,” Jackson said. “I thought we had it in the bag. ... I don't know what else we can do.”

Jackson, who never really seemed fully healthy during his eighth season as he battled one thing after another, did his part. The two-time NFL MVP passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including two long connections with Zay Flowers in the fourth quarter that put the Ravens (8-9) in front.

It just wasn't enough. Baltimore's defense, which played most of the second half without star safety Kyle Hamilton after Hamilton entered the concussion protocol, wilted against 42-year-old Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers passed for a season-high 294 yards, including a 26-yard flip to a wide-open Calvin Austin with 55 seconds to go after a defender slipped, symbolic of a season in which Baltimore's defense only occasionally found its form.

Still, the Ravens had a chance when Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a 28-yard gain on fourth down from midfield. A couple of snaps later, the 24-year-old Loop walked on to try to lift Baltimore to its third straight division title.

Instead, the rookie said he “mishit” it. Whatever it was, it never threatened to sneak between the goalposts.

“It’s disappointing,” Loop said.

Loop was talking about the game. He might as well have been talking about his team's season.

The Ravens began 1-5 as Jackson dealt with injuries and the defense struggled to get stops. Baltimore found a way to briefly tie the Steelers for first in late November, only to then split its next four games, including a home loss to Pittsburgh.

Still, when Jackson and the Ravens walked onto the Acrisure Stadium turf on Sunday night in the 272nd and final game of the NFL regular season, Baltimore was confident. The Ravens drilled Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago behind the ever-churning legs of running back Derrick Henry.

When Henry ripped off a gain of 40-plus yards on the game's first offensive snap, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. While Henry did rush for 126 yards and joined Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as the only running backs in NFL history to have five 1,500-yard seasons, he was less effective in the second half.

Even that first run was telling of what night it was going to be, as an illegal block by wide receiver Zay Flowers cost Baltimore some field position. The Ravens ended up scoring on the drive anyway, thanks to a 38-yard fourth-down flip from Jackson to a wide-open Devontez Walker, but it started a pattern that was hard to shake as several steps forward were met with one step back on a night the Ravens finished with nine penalties for 78 yards.

“We were having a lot of penalties, which kept stopping drives," Jackson said. “But I'm proud of my guys because we kept overcoming. We kept overcoming adversity and situations like this. Divisional games (can) be like that sometimes.”

Particularly when the Steelers are on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Pittsburgh has won 10 of the last 13 meetings. And while a handful of them have been in late-season matchups with the Ravens already assured of reaching the playoffs, the reality is the Steelers have been able to regularly do something that most others have not: found a way to beat Jackson.

“It comes down to situations like this,” Jackson said. “Two-point conversion one year. Field goal another year. And again this year. Just got to find a way to get that win here.”

And figure out who is going to be around to help get it.

Head coach John Harbaugh's 18th season in Baltimore ended with the Ravens missing the playoffs for just the second time in eight years. Jackson turns 29 this week and is still one of the most electric players in the league.

Yet Harbaugh and Jackson have yet to find a way to have that breakthrough season that Harbaugh enjoyed with Joe Flacco in 2013 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl.

There was hope when the season began that the roadblocks that have long been in the franchise's way — Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes chief among them — would be gone.

While the Ravens did get their way in a sense — the Chiefs will watch the playoffs from afar for the first time in a decade after a nightmarish season of their own — it never all came together.

Jackson declined to endorse Harbaugh returning for a 19th season, saying the loss was still too fresh to zoom out on what it might mean for the franchise going forward.

Harbaugh, for his part, certainly seems up for running it back in the fall.

“I love these guys,” he said afterward. “I love these guys.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, right, hands the ball off to running back Derrick Henry (22) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with an offical during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, left, greets Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jabrill Peppers (40) reacts after Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop (33) missed a field goal attempt in the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)