BEIJING – No. 4 seed Coco Gauff booked her return to the China Open semifinals for the second time in a row after coming from a set down to beat Ukrainian qualifier Yulia Starodubtseva 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Beijing is the 20-year-old American’s third semi-final at the WTA 1000 tournament this year and first since Rome. She is the youngest player to reach the semifinals of the China Open since Maria Sharapova achieved the feat in 2004 and 2005.
Beijing: Results | Order of play | He paints
Gauff will face 15th-seeded Paula Badosa on Saturday for a spot in her first final since beating Auckland in January and first at the WTA 1000 level since beating Cincinnati last summer. Badosa leads 3-2. Gauff won their only meeting this season on clay in Rome.
Gauff entered the week ranked sixth in the PIF race to the WTA Finals and her run in Beijing boosted her chances of qualifying for her third consecutive tournament at the end of the season.
In their first professional meeting, Gauff overcame a slow start to beat rising Starodubtseva, who was playing her second WTA quarterfinal in her first WTA 1000 appearance. The No. 115 seed, 24, is a graduate Old Dominion University, had yet to lose a set in Beijing until Gauff came back in the second set.
“I was just trying to remember what we were working on on the training field,” Gauff said. “There’s still a lot of things I’m adjusting to, so for me, it’s about trusting the process and focusing on that.
“Today, I can’t control how I play or how I play, but I can only try to control my mentality and stick to the process.”
Starodubtseva dominated the opening frame from the first game, breaking up the error-prone Gauff immediately. Starodubtseva held Gauff to zero winners while hitting 10 of her own. As Gauff struggled to find the rhythm of her serve and committed seven double faults, Starodubtseva continued to press hard in response. She generated nine break points and was broken three times in the 40-minute set.
Jove responded by showing her hero’s mettle. She saved two break points in her opening service game of the second set and broke for a 3-1 lead. After erasing two more break points to extend her advantage, Gauff settled down to lose just 3 games for the rest of the match.
After forcing the deciding set, Gauff took a 3-0 lead to start the third set and did not let Starodubtseva put the result in doubt. Gauff did not face a break point in the final set. She only lost four points on serve.
With her win over Starodubtseva, Gauff improved to 12-1 against this year’s finalists. She has also won 24 of her last 25 matches against players outside the top 100 in the PIF WTA Rankings.
Starodubtseva, who last month became the first woman in the Open Era to successfully qualify for all four Grand Slams in a single season, will make her debut in the top 100 on Monday.
