China Open: Coco Gauff sets up Iga Swiatek semi-final by beating Maria Sakkari
Coco Gauff extended her winning streak to 16 matches to set up a semi-final against Iga Swiatek at the China Open.
The 19-year-old American, who won her first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September, beat Greek sixth seed Maria Sakkari 6-2 6-4 in Beijing.
The world number three will face Swiatek, second in the rankings, after the Pole battled back from the brink of defeat against Caroline Garcia.
Garcia had been two points from victory but lost 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka was beaten 7-5 6-2 by Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka lost her serve late in the opening set after a wild forehand, before she was also broken twice in the second set by 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina, who will face Liudmila Samsonova in the semi-finals.
Russian Samsonova beat Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-2 to secure her spot in the last four.
Gauff’s ongoing winning streak is the longest on the WTA Tour in 2023 and she has not been beaten since a Canadian Open quarter-final loss to her doubles partner Jessica Pegula on 11 August.
She has since secured her first WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati and maiden Grand Slam in New York, winning 21 of 22 matches since a first-round exit at Wimbledon.
Gauff required just one hour and 20 minutes to move past Sakkari and did not lose serve once.
Navigating a path to the last four did not prove as straightforward for Swiatek, who was replaced as world number one by Australian Open champion Sabalenka following the Belarusian’s run to the US Open final.
The 22-year-old four-time major winner held her nerve after Garcia fought back from four points behind to level the second-set tie-break at 5-5.
Swiatek won the next two points to force a decider, which in contrast to the first two sets proved a one-sided charge to the finish.