China Open: Gauff reaches final after comeback v Badosa

American Coco Gauff, the No 4 seed, won against Spaniard Paula Badosa, the No 15 seed, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the final of the China Open at the National Tennis Center in Beijing on Saturday.

Gauff was a set and a break down – and struggling hugely with her serve – before she turned it around.

Across the entire match, which lasted two hours and 20 minutes, the American served 11 double faults and made 39 unforced errors.

Although the stats show that she made only six of 20 possible break points, ten of those came in one second-set game – which she eventually took.

And perhaps more significantly, she also made 38 winners, in comparison to Badosa’s 24.

She is the youngest finalist in Beijing since Caroline Wozniacki 14 years ago.

This win is her 20th in WTA 1000 matches so far this year.

Gauff, ranked No 6, will face the winner of the match between Karolina Muchova and Chinese Zheng Qinwen, the No 5 seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, the 20-year-old American beat Frenchwoman Clara Burel (7-5, 6-3), No 26 seed Katie Boulter (7-5, 6-2), Japanese Naomi Osaka (3-6, 6-4 ret.) and Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva (2-6, 6-2, 6-2).

Badosa, ranked No 19, won against Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova (6-3, 6-2), Slovak qualifier Rebecca Sramkova (7-5, 7-5), American Jessica Pegula, the second seed (6-4, 6-0) and Chinese wildcard Shuai Zhang (6-1, 7-6 (4)) in the previous rounds of the Beijing tournament.

You might also like this

“Gauff has an amazing head on her shoulders and knows that there will be changes in her team throughout the years” – Sharapova

tennis majors

“Mentally, I collapsed” – Gauff aiming for stronger resolve in US Open rematch with Navarro

tennis majors

Beijing WTA 1000, other semi-final result (National Tennis Center, hard, USD 8.955.610):

• Karolina Muchova vs. Qinwen Zheng