Coco Gauff stormed past Maria Sakkari in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, to reach the semi-final of the WTA 1000 China Open, marking her 16th consecutive win.

The third seed has been on a roll in recent months and has looked confident and consistent in Beijing, her first tournament since she won her first-ever Grand Slam title at the US Open in September. So far, Gauff has overcome some tough and closely contested battles against Ekaterina Alexandrova, Petra Martic, and sixteenth seed Veronika Kudermetova.

Meanwhile, sixth seed Sakkari has appeared to be improving after a difficult time on the WTA Tour as of late. She was eliminated in the first round of the New York Slam but went on to win her first WTA 1000 title at the Guadalajara Open in Mexico. The Greek player received a performance bye in the first round in Beijing before defeating Linda Fruhvirtova and Xinyu Wang to set up the clash with the American. 

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Gauff dominates clash with Sakkari

Gauff dominated their clash from the beginning with an early break. Sakkari's first service game went to a deuce before Gauff secured the advantage. Her opponent then double-faulted which gave the 19-year-old the break. She was quick to capitalize on this, holding her serve before taking Sakkari's next service game to another deuce from where she was able to achieve and convert a double break point.

At this point, Sakkari was clearly very frustrated and was given a warning by the umpire for audible obscenity, leading to a brief dispute as the 28-year-old insisted it was just one bad word. From there, Sakkari was able to hold one service game, but Gauff held her nerve and didn't allow her opponent to catch up. She soon found herself serving for the set and secured it tidily, acing Sakkari along the way.

The second set looked like it could have started similarly to the first as Sakkari's first service game went to deuce yet again. However, a strong forehand helped the Greek player to hold serve this time.

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However, Gauff was not about to let Sakkari take this set as she remained consistent, soon obtaining three break points. Sakkari's fighting spirit was not dulled either though and she brought it back to a deuce. This was short-lived as Gauff soon got the break with her athleticism forcing Sakkari to hit dangerously close to the lines and rack up a lot of unforced errors.

Gauff looked to be in a little bit of danger when Sakkari got a 0-30 lead in one of the American's later service games, but Gauff quickly leveled the game and ultimately held. She soon found herself serving for the set yet again and built up three match points with a 40-0 lead.

In the end, she only needed one as an unforced error from Sakkari saw Gauff make it through to the semi-final of the China Open, where she will face Iga Swiatek.

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SIXTEEN WINS IN A ROW FOR COCO!!! Coco Gauff beats Sakkari in straight sets and reaches her 7th Semifinal this season! #ChinaOpen

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