Top seed Coco Gauff continued her dominant run at the ASB Classic with a 6-1, 6-1 win over France’s Varvara Gracheva in the semifinals Friday in Auckland, New Zealand.
Gauff needed less than an hour to take care of Gracheva. Gauff has not lost a set in the tournament.
Gauff’s next match will be an all-American affair, facing No. 4 Emma Navarro in the semifinals. In her quarterfinal match, Navarro defeated No. 7 seed Petra Martic of Croatia. Navarro put 80 percent of first serves in play in the 6-4, 6-3 win.
In the other semifinal match, No. 2 seed Elina Svitolina — a 6-0, 6-3 winner over No. 5 Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic — will face unseeded Xiyu Wang of China. Wang needed three hours and eight minutes to defeat France’s Diane Parry of 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4.
Brisbane International
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka’s powerful ground strokes made for a decisive 6-1, 6-4 win over fifth-seeded Russian Daria Kasatkina as she reached the semifinals in Australia.
Sabalenka dropped just one service game in the 86-mnute win. She struck 29 winners to 19 unforced errors for her 14th straight victory in Australia.
Sabalenka next will face a fellow Belarusian,No.8 seed Victoria Azarenka, who had a much tougher time in defeating Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
The two-and-a-half hour match included an intense game that lasted more than 15 minutes, ultimately won by Azarenka, and an extensive outburst against the referee by Ostapenko.
Second-seeded Elena Rybakina reached the semifinal when Russian Anastasia Potapova retired with an abdominal injury after losing the first set 6-1. Rybakina will face Czech Linda Noskova, who defeated Russian Mirra Andreeva, 7-5, 6-3.
–Field Level Media