Coco Gauff is into the Australian Open semifinals – and her pre-tournament warning to rivals rings true after the manner of her latest win. Gauff had to dig deep in a tough encounter against Marta Kostyuk but eventually won 7-6(6) 6-7(3) 6-2.
Gauff was in huge trouble as she went 5-1 down and had to save two set points in the first set. She eventually took it to a tie break, which she won 8-6 to take control of the match.
When she broke Kostyuk in the second set to make it 4-2, Gauff was instantly broken back and the set returned to serve but, after losing an epic 21-shot rally in the next game, Gauff broke again.
She then failed to serve for the match and was taken to a second tiebreak which was won by the gutsy Kostyuk. With Gauff making numerous unforced errors, struggling on her first serve and being comfortably outperformed in the number of winners, she looked in real trouble yet responded to win the deciding set 6-2.
Despite a game that had various swings in momentum, the U.S. Open winner booked her spot in the last four and is now among the favourites to go all the way after No.1 seed Iga Swiatek was knocked out. The manner in which Gauff battled through tough spells to find a way to win was reflective of how tough she has become to beat.
It comes after she won her tune-up tournament, the WTA Auckland Classic, by beating Elina Svitolina in the final and warned her rivals she had plenty of room for improvement and was not at her best.
“I think today level-wise was definitely not my best match or best level this week,” she said after winning last month. “but sometimes when you win when you’re not playing your best, it makes you feel more satisfied.”
The Australian Open quarterfinal marked another match where Gauff was not at her best but still had too much for her opponent, underlining her mental strength as well as her on-court talent which has never been in doubt. Aryna Sabalenka or Barbora Krejcikova now awaits in the final four.
Gauff celebrated after the match with a dance on-court before being asked to sum up how she felt, replying: “Happy. Really proud of the fight that I showed today. Marta is a tough opponent, a tough match. I really fought and left it all on the court today.”
Discussing the first set, she said: “I was just trying to get one more game in the first set and at least make it competitive, then one game turned to another and I was able to win that set.
“In the third set, I was just trying to play aggressive, because if I knew I left something standing she was going to take advantage.”
