China Open 2024: Coco Gauff Qualifies Semifinals

Coco Gauff stepped into the semifinals of the China Open 2024 (Instagram/@cocogauff).

JAKARTA Coco Gauff advanced to the semifinals of the China Open for the second year in a row after rising from behind against Yuliia Starodubtseva.

The fourth seed lost in the first set before rising to stop the Ukrainian representatives with scores 2-6, 6-2, and 6-2 on Thursday, October 3, 2024, WIB night.

Gauff, who is currently ranked sixth in the world, has had a difficult year after failing to reach the Grand Slam final and losing in the third round of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 2024 China Open is the third WTA 1000 semifinal for the 20-year-old US player this year and the first since Rome.

He is the youngest semifinalist in a row at the China Open since Maria Sharapova achieved these achievements in 2004 and 2005.

Gauff will next face 15th seed Paula Badosa, on Saturday, October 5, 2024, to fight for a place in her first final since winning in Auckland in January 2024.

If you win then this is Gauff's first final at the WTA 1000 level tournament since he won the Cincinnati tournament last summer.

On paper, Badosa won a 3-2 loss. This year, Gauff won their only meeting on clay in Rome.

Meanwhile, Badosa reached the top four at the 2024 China Open by defeating the host's representative, Zhang Shuai, in a two-set straight match.

This Spanish tennis player won over the wildcard player with a score of 6-1 and 7-6 (7-4) in one hour 23 minutes. In this match Badosa was forced to rise from 1-3 behind in the second set.

Badosa was ranked 140th in the world earlier this year, but moved up to 19th after 28 wins in 35 matches since May 2024.