World No. 6 Coco Gauff fought back from a set once again and a break down to see off Spain’s Paula Badosa and her maiden China Open final, Afrosport reports.
The fourth seed American saw off Badosa 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in three sets after two hours and 21 minutes at the Diamond Court in Beijing on Saturday.
Badosa looked in inspired form as she rushed to a first set win ensuring Gauff lost at least one set for the third straight game.
The Spanish 15th seed looked very comfortable in the game as she took another 4-3 lead in the second set as it was her turn to serve.
However, Gauff broke her and took four straight games to win the second, forcing Badosa to drop her first set in the tournament and ensured the tie headed for a deciding set, which she easily claimed.
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For the final, Gauff awaits the winner of the second semifinal between unseeded Czech Karolina Muchova, who stunned Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals, or home favourite and Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng.
“I tried to stay focused, it was tough but mentally I just tried to reset,” she said.
“I had tough opponents the whole tournament. Happy to be in the final.”
Badosa, 19th in the world, forced 11 double faults out of Gauff, winning 61 service points i the contest.
Gauff, now under the tutelage of new coach Matt Daly, saved four break points to prevent her from having to surmount a bigger hurdle in the second set.
