Melbourne, Jan 23 Coco Gauff survived a rollercoaster 7-6(8-6), 6-7(3-7), 6-2 battle against Marta Kostyuk to sail through to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time in her career on Tuesday.
Despite struggling on serve and with her forehand, Gauff saved two set points as she clawed her way back from a 1-5 deficit in the opening set. The 19-year-old American served for the match a 5-3 in the second but was foiled as her determined opponent slammed a pair of backhand winners en route to recapturing the break.
But she regrouped with a strong start in the third set and hardly looked back to eventually take victory in 3 hours and 8 minutes in warm conditions at Rod Laver Arena.
Kostyuk, the world No.37, produced 39 winners to Gauff’s 17, but was weighed down by 56 unforced errors.
The world No.4, who defended the ASB Classic title in Auckland earlier this month, is on a 10-0 unbeaten streak in 2024.
Overall, Gauff is through to the third Grand Slam semifinal of her career, and they've come at three different majors. She's 2-0 in her previous two, having reached the final at Roland Garros in 2022 before winning the US Open last year. The one missing from her set is Wimbledon, where she famously reached the fourth round on her debut as a 15-year-old in 2019.
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