London [UK], June 30 : The No.5 seed Coco Gauff scored her first Top 10 win in 10 months with a 6-3, 6-3 victory against World No. 4 Jessica Pegula in the Eastbourne International quarterfinals.
With a win over Pegula in the quarterfinals, Gauff set up an all-American semifinal clash against Madison Keys.
Gauff pounced in the sixth game following an early exchange of breaks. She moved up 4-2, a lead she held for the remainder of the opening set, thanks to a deft drop shot.
At the beginning of the second set, Pegula came back, breaking Gauff after a string of forehand faults, and then holding for 3-0 with a brilliant lob of her own. Gauff levelled the set with a sequence of expertly executed volley wins, resuming her best performance of the match.
Gauff won the last six games of the match from 3-0 down in the second set to snap a seven-match losing streak against Top 10 opposition.
Following Auckland and Dubai, the 19-year-old moves on to her third semifinal of the year. There, she will compete against fellow countrywoman, 2014 winner Madison Keys, who defeated unlucky loser Petra Martic 6-4, 6-1.
In her first semifinal since Cincinnati 2022, No. 25-ranked Keys is already in. It will be their first meeting on grass despite Gauff having an advantage in their head-to-head matchup of 2-1, including a 6-2, 7-5 victory in the Dubai quarterfinals in February.
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