Coco Gauff moves closer to massive rankings breakthrough after latest French Open win

Coco Gauff’s fine Grand Slam form continued on Tuesday, battling from a set down to beat Ons Jabeur and reach the last four at the French Open.

After losing her first match at Wimbledon last year, the American has won the US Open title and reached the Australian Open semi-final, and is back in the semi-final at Roland Garros, after reaching the final in 2022.

The world No 3 has proven herself a reliable Grand Slam performer and has been consistent across the WTA Tour in recent months, with a new career-high of third, where she is currently ranked.

However, she could usurp Aryna Sabalenka and move up to a career-high of world No 2 at the French Open this year – if results continue to go her way.

How can she do it?

Gauff looked well-placed across the clay season to potentially overtake Sabalenka, but the two-time Australian Open champion held firm across two key events.

The American was often ahead of the Belarusian across the live rankings, but after losing in the fourth round of the Madrid Open, Gauff missed her opportunity when defending champion Sabalenka returned to the final.

And in Rome, Gauff went deep with a run to the last four – but Sabalenka’s run to the final kept her in front, which proved crucial for French Open seedings.

Having been beaten by Iga Swiatek in the Roland Garros quarter-finals 12 months ago, Gauff’s battling 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Jabeur means she is set to add 350 points to her ranking post-tournament.

Currently, that puts her ahead of Sabalenka.

World No 3 Gauff holds 7,988 points in the live rankings, while Sabalenka – who needed to defend last four points – currently sits on 7,788 points.

However, the Belarusian is expected to beat Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-final on Wednesday, and that would put her back on 8,138 points – enough to move back up over Gauff.

If Sabalenka does win her quarter-final, Gauff can still move to world No 2 if she can beat her rival’s result.

However, the American has been handed the toughest semi-final draw possible in top seed and three-time champion Swiatek, who has dropped just eight games across her last three matches.

Swiatek has lost just once to Gauff in 11 meetings and will be a big favourite for this match.

That might mean things are difficult for Gauff to get to world No 2 in Paris – but it could be possible at Wimbledon.

With the US star losing in her opening match last year, and Sabalenka reaching the semi-final, she could potentially make up some significant ground there.

The 11 previous Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff matches: Can US No 1 turn tables on French Open champion?