CNN –
Coco Gauff continued her winning streak at the US Open on Tuesday, beating Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets.
The world No. 6 didn’t lose a game in the opening set before claiming a convincing 6-0, 6-2 victory to secure her first semi-final berth at the US Open.
With many of the top seeds in the women’s draw already eliminated, Gauff remains one of the few remaining favorites.
The 19-year-old Gauff will now face either Sorana Cîrstea or this year’s French Open runner-up Karolína Muchová in the next round.
“I’m so happy,” Gauff said in her on-court interview after the win. “Last year I lost in the quarterfinals. I’m happy and ready to get back to work on the next one.”
The American faced a difficult challenge against the resurgent Ostapenko after the Latvian defeated defending champion Iga Świątek in the preliminary round.
But playing in front of her home crowd, Gauff showed no signs of nervousness as she dominated her opponent and won the first set in just 20 minutes.
Ostapenko, who won the French Open in 2017, was far more aggressive in the second set, winning two games to avoid a complete whitewash.
Brendan McDermid/Portal
Gauff has now reached her second singles semi-final at a Grand Slam.
In the end, however, the frustrated Latvian proved to be no match for Gauff as she was punished for constant mistakes.
Even though the result looks convincing on paper, Gauff still had to work towards her victory.
Ostapenko saved two match points as Gauff tried to break the tie, but the American eventually secured victory with a precise forehand to secure her 10th straight victory.
“To be honest, I didn’t feel comfortable at all during the game – not even with the match points,” Gauff added.
“I know the game [Ostapenko] plays. She has the ability to come back regardless of the score, so I just tried to get every point and get every ball in.
“It’s really hard against them because you can’t really be aggressive, so I tried my best to be aggressive when I could and most of the time I was just trying to get the ball deep. She is a strong player and had a great tournament.”
With the win, Gauff becomes the first American teenager since Serena Williams in 2001 to reach the semifinals of the US Open.
It is also only the second time in Gauff’s career that she has made it to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam – the last time being at the French Open in 2022, where she ultimately lost to Świątek in the final.
After triumphing over Świątek in the preliminary round, Ostapenko was unhappy with the amount of rest time she was allowed between the impressive win and her match against Gauff.
“I mean, if I’m playing a match, like a late night session, then I probably have to play at least at the same time or later in a day because you don’t really have a lot of time to recover,” Ostapenko told reporters their loss. “I think the schedule was better for her because she obviously played a lot earlier the day I played the night session.”
The 26-year-old added that she was sure she would face Gauff in the night session.
“When I asked the day before, I was pretty sure I was going to play at night because that’s what they told me. When the schedule came out, I saw that I was playing the first game and thought, ‘Wow, that’s a bit of a strange schedule,'” Ostapenko added.
“Yeah, when I saw the schedule I was a little surprised, not really positive.”
CNN reached out to the US Tennis Association about Ostapenko’s comments but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Gauff now has a huge opportunity at Flushing Meadows.
In Monday’s action, Świątek, the No. 1 seed, Jessica Pegula, the No. 3 seed, and Ons Jabeur, the No. 5 seed, exited the tournament, leaving Gauff and No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, the two highest-ranked remaining seeds, who remained in the Women’s draw left.
And with Gauff already having some convincing wins under her belt in New York, she probably has her best chance of winning her first Grand Slam title.
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Ostapenko struggled to get through the quarterfinals.
The top seed remaining in the draw, Sabalenka, will face rising Chinese star Zheng Qinwen in the quarter-finals, who is celebrating the best performance of his career at a Grand Slam after comfortably defeating last year’s finalist Jabeur in straight sets in the round of 16.
Świątek’s early exit means Sabalenka will become the new world No. 1 on Monday. For the first time in her career, she takes the top spot in the rankings. Her rise comes after a remarkable year in which she won three titles, including her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open.
Sabalenka says she is currently “playing great tennis” but knows there is “always something to improve on” as she expects a difficult match against Zheng.
“We trained with her a few times,” she told reporters after Monday’s win over Daria Kasatkina. “She plays really great tennis. [Her] Forehand is really difficult, I would say backhand too. Good service. Going well.
“It’s like she has nothing to lose, so she plays her best. She played great tennis against Ons – I haven’t seen her previous matches but yeah, she’s playing great tennis at the moment.
“The hardest part is that she moves well and throws some heavy punches. I have to be physically and mentally prepared for the fact that there will be some winners against me in this game.
“I just have to focus more on myself than on her. I know if I take my tennis there, I have a chance to win this match.”