Coco Gauff slides into the semi-finals of the rain-affected Auckland Classic

US Open champion Coco Gauff reached the semi-finals of the Auckland Tennis Classic on Friday with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over France's Varvara Gracheva in a rainy day of the quarter-finals.

The top-ranked player and defending champion needed just 24 minutes to win the first set, winning the match in just eight minutes in an hour. Gauff did not drop a set during the tournament and did not drop a set in winning the tournament last year. Rain delayed the start of the match and was threatening at the end. But Gauff rushed to victory as dark clouds gathered, sending down five aces.

“I thought I served really well, probably the best so far at this tournament, which is something I really worked on in the offseason,” Gauff said. “Last year there was a lot more rain, so I was happy to finish my match.”

Gauff will play compatriot Emma Navarro in the semi-finals after the fourth seed defeated Petra Martic of France 6-4, 6-3. Navarro lost to Martic 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 when the pair met in Cincinnati in August, but she turned the tables with an authoritative display, landing 80% of the first serves in play and Martic attacked, especially on her second. serve. China's Wang Xiyu defeated France's Diane Parry 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4 in another quarter-final that lasted three hours and eight minutes, but extended in length due to rain.

Second seed Elena Rybakina only had to play seven matches in her quarter-final on Friday to reach the last four at the Brisbane International.

Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka had a tougher time, needing three sets, about two and a half hours, and joked about the prospect of having to wear protective headgear to move ahead 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 at the French 2017 Open winner Jelena Ostapenko, the No. 3 seed.

Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, won the first set 6-1 before 11th seed Anastasia Potapova withdrew from the match with an abdominal injury. Next she plays Linda Noskova or Mirra Andreeva.

Azarenka, who won back-to-back Australian Open titles in 2012 and 2013, earned her victory in a thrilling three-match match following Ostapenko's emotional outburst against chair umpire Julie Kjendlie. “With Jelena, sometimes you just have to put on a helmet and try to stay there,” Azarenka said. “She is an incredible player and a Grand Slam champion, and she has proven many times that she can beat anyone on any given day. The quality of tennis was incredible, so to be able to go through this… I'm very proud.”

Azarenka will face top-seeded compatriot Aryna Sabalenka, the defending Australian Open champion, or fifth-seeded Daria Kasatkina.

In the men's top seed Holger Rune had a 6-2, 7-6 (6) victory over James Duckworth and advanced to a semi-final against Roman Safiullin, who defeated Matteo Arnaldi 7-6 (4), 6-2.

No. 2 seed Grigor Dimitrov earned a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Rinky Hijikata to also reach the semifinals. He could next face Rafael Nadal, who aims to extend his comeback campaign after a year-long injury woes, when he meets Australian Jordan Thompson in a quarter-final nightcap at the Pat Rafter Arena. The 22-time major winner has had straight-sets win over Dominic Thiem And Jason Kubler in his first two competitive matches since the 2023 Australian Open.