- Coco Gauff sets up Iga Swiatek semi-final by beating Caroline Garcia.
Coco Gauff extended her winning streak to 16 matches to set up a semi-final against Iga Swiatek at the China Open.
The American 19-year-old, who won her first major 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.
The top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka faces Elena Rybakina for a place in the last four, where she could meet Jelena Ostapenko or Liudmila Samsonova.
Gauff’s 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 Jessica Pegula on 11 August.
She has since secured her first WTA 1,000 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.
It 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.
