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Coco Gauff extended her winning streak on the WTA Tour to 16 matches as she set up a semi-final with Iga Swiatek at the China Open while World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka was dumped out by Elena Rybakina.
US Open champion Gauff saw off Maria Sakkari 6-2 6-4 in Beijing as she continued her pursuit of a fifth title of 2023, with the American winning in Auckland in January and then claiming three titles in the States this summer, including her maiden Grand Slam victory at Flushing Meadows.
The 19-year-old has won 22 of 23 matches since her first-round exit to Sofia Kenin at Wimbledon in July, with her only defeat in that time coming against Jessica Pegula in Montreal in August.
Her current winning streak is the longest by any player on the WTA Tour this season – Swiatek is next best with 14 – and the longest by a teenager since Bianca Andreescu won 17 in a row in 2019.
A rematch of the US Open final, in which Gauff beat Sabalenka 2-6 6-3 6-2, could have taken place in Beijing on Sunday but Rybakina put paid to that with a 7-5 6-2 victory over the world No 1 in the fourth-quarter final.
World No 5 Rybakina will next face unseeded Russian Liudmila Samsonova who upset Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-2.
Swiatek: I used my intuition in intense win
Swiatek defeated Caroline Garcia to set up a meeting with Gauff in Beijing
While Gauff eased to victory over Sakkari, Swiatek was made to work for her win over France’s Caroline Garcia, coming through 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.
Swiatek was two points from defeat after losing the first set and being 5-5 in the second-set tiebreak but rallied to level the match and then breezed through the decider.
The Polish player said: “For sure it was really intense. We played really fast. There was no time sometimes to think or analyse. I’m happy I used my intuition a lot.
“In both of these first sets, every ball counted. I’m happy that in the third I could just go for it.”
Swiatek won her first seven matches against Gauff without dropping a set but the American turned the tables in the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August prior to lifting her maiden Grand Slam title.
“Everybody who plays her, no matter the game style, you have to be prepared to run and just be ready for everything,” said Gauff.
“She’s in the position she is for a reason, she’s one of the best players in the world for a reason, and I’m just going to go out there and hopefully do a similar result to Cincinnati. If not, I’m really proud of the way that I’ve been doing to get to the semi-finals so far.”
Gauff said of facing Swiatek: “Everybody who plays her, no matter the game style, you have to be prepared to run and just be ready for everything.
“She’s in the position she is for a reason, she’s one of the best players in the world for a reason, and I’m just going to go out there and hopefully do a similar result to Cincinnati.
“If not, I’m really proud of the way that I’ve been doing to get to the semi-finals so far.”
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