US Open: Coco Gauff to first semifinal after straight sets victory over Jelena Ostapenko at Flushing Meadows
Coco Gauff is in her first US Open semifinal after a straight-sets victory over Jelena Ostapenko.
The American teenager, the No. 6 seed, won the first set 6-0 in just 20 minutes before closing the match by winning the second set 6-2.
Gauff, who reached the quarter-finals last year, will face winner over Sorana Cirstea or Karolina Muchova on Saturday for a spot in the final.
“It feels great, I’m so happy. Last year I lost in the quarter finals and this year I wanted to do better. There’s still a long way to go, but I’m happy and ready to get back to work for the next one,” said Gauff.
Gauff has now won 16 of 17 matches since crashing out of Wimbledon in the first round. Ostapenko, meanwhile, entered this quarterfinal thanks to the victory over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
“Honestly, I didn’t feel comfortable the whole game, not even on match point,” the 19-year-old added. “She has the ability to come back… it’s very hard to play against her, you can’t be really aggressive… she’s a strong player and had a great tournament.”
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