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.
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.
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.
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.
Gauff said of facing Swiatek, a player she beat for the first time in eight attempts in Cincinnati this year: “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.”
The last two quarter-finals in China see Jelena Ostapenko up against Liudmila Samsonova and then world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka versus Elena Rybakina.