BEIJING, CHINA – OCTOBER 01: Coco Gauff of the United States reacts in the Women’s Singles Fourth Round match against Naomi Osaka of Japan during day nine of the 2024 China Open at National Tennis Center on October 01, 2024 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Coco Gauff is back on the court Thursday at the China Open, facing Paula Badosa in the semifinals.
The 19th-ranked Spaniard has won 28 of her last 35 matches dating to May and made the semifinals of three of her past five tournaments. There was also a run to the U.S. Open quarterfinals last month.
Match timing had yet to be determined early Thursday.
Gauff beat Yuliia Starodubtsewa in three sets to make it to the semis. She advanced to the quarterfinals when four-time major winner Naomi Osaka retired at 3-6, 6-4 because of a lower back injury.
Osaka was leading 4-3 in the second set before Gauff won three straight games.
The sixth-ranked Gauff then helped carry Osaka's bags off the court.
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Gauff hit six aces compared to Osaka’s one and improved to 3-2 over her opponent at WTA tournaments.
She will next meet No. 115-ranked Yuliia Starodubtseva, who earlier upset No. 14 Anna Kalinskaya 7-5, 6-0.
Paula Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over U.S. Open finalist Jessica Pegula to reach her eighth career quarterfinal at a WTA 1000-level event.
“She’s one the of the players I never want to face — she’s very solid, hits very flat, changes very well direction,” said Badosa, who was 0-3 previously against Pegula. “I prepared myself for a battle, but I think today everything worked pretty well."
Badosa next faces 35-year-old Chinese player Zhang Shuai, who continued her resurgence with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Magdalena Frech of Poland.
Zhang entered the China Open on a 24-match losing streak and ranked No. 595, but she's yet to drop a set in four matches this week.
Zhang is now into her first women's tour quarterfinal since Tokyo in 2022, and her first at a WTA 1000 tournament since Cincinnati in the same year.
“In this draw, everyone has a higher ranking than me,” Zhang said. “Just step on court, just play. So I do not have much to think about, to prepare. I will just focus on myself.”
