Coco Gauff booked a place in the semifinal at the ongoing WTA Finals with a famous win over defending champions Iga Swiatek on Tuesday, Afrosport reports.
The American overcame the second seed Pole 6-3, 6-4 in straight sets to confirm her spot in the last four alongside world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
GAUFF 🤜🤛 GOKU@CocoGauff gets her second win over Swiatek to remain undefeated in the Orange Group!#WTAFinalsRiyadh pic.twitter.com/tW6GuW0TTd
— wta (@WTA) November 5, 2024
The 20-year-old beat Swiatek for the second time in 13 tries, with the defeat to the Pole ensuring she will finish the year in number two in the world rankings.
“It feels great,” said Gauff. “I knew going into the match, despite our head-to-head, I had a lot of confidence and I felt like I was playing great tennis.
“Even when I was playing a little bit sloppy, the games that I lost were still going to deuce. That gave me confidence and I knew if I stayed solid, I had the chance to close out the match.”
Swiatek must now beat Gauff’s compatriot Jessica Pegula in Thursday’s final Orange Group match to progress, after the American, who became the second player to be eliminated from the season-ending tournament, lost 6-3, 6-3 to Barbora Krejcikova.
Meanwhile, third seed Gauff will need to defeat Czech Krejcikova in order to top the group standings.
