“My favorite thing about Coco is her fighting spirit,” Jabeur said. “She always tries to find ways, she’s really smart on the court.”

To win the match, though, Jabeur needed those winners to count for two points each. She also made 38 errors, and many of them seemed to come right after a piece of brilliance. Case in point: With Gauff serving at 5-3 in the third set, Jabeur saved a match point by hitting not one, but two perfect drop shots in a single rally. Then, at deuce, feeling confident from the last point, with her cheering section at full roar,, she added a little extra whip to her slice forehand return…and sent it straight into the net.

Bowers had a different reaction this time: “What was that?”

A minute or so later, after a Jabeur smash sailed wide, Gauff had advanced to the semifinals, a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 winner.

“It was, like, really couple of moments that I missed, was really frustrating,” Jabeur said.

What was frustrating for Jabeur was another lesson—in patience, aggression, and opportunism—for Gauff. Through the first eight games, the American was out-played. But when she served at 3-5, and fell behind in that game, she didn’t get down on herself and let Jabeur off easily. Gauff kept fighting, saved two set points, and held. It didn’t win her the set, but it prolonged the action, and gave Jabeur more time to cool off.