Coco Gauff books her spot in the semifinal at the China Open with 6-2 6-4 win over Maria Sakkari. It's the American's 16th consecutive win and will now battle Iga Swiatek for a final spot in Beijing. #5SN #Tennis #ChinaOpen #WTA 🎾
PREVIEW | 2023 China Open Semi-Finals - GAUFF v SWIATEK and RYBAKINA v SAMSONOVA
WTAFriday, 06 October 2023 at 21:26
The semi-finals of the WTA China Open will take place on Saturday, October 7 at the National Tennis Center in Beijing. Here is our preview of the matches, as Coco Gauff takes on Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina faces Liudmila Samsonova in a bid to reach the WTA 1000 final.
The first clash will be between third seed Gauff and second seed Swiatek. The American will be looking for her 17th consecutive match victory after she won her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open last month.
This is the first tournament that the 19-year-old has played since then and it looks as though the momentum has carried over from New York, as she overcame tough battles against Ekaterina Alexandrova, Petra Martic, and Veronika Kudermetova before storming past sixth seed Maria Sakkari.
Swiatek dominates head-to-head but lost recent battle
Meanwhile, World No. 2 Swiatek ousted Sara Sorribes Tomo, Varvara Gracheva, and Magda Linette in straight sets before prevailing over Caroline Garcia in a three-set thriller. The Polish player dominates her head-to-head with Gauff, having won against her 7 times out of 8, including twice this year - at the Dubai Tennis Championships and the French Open respectively.
However, Gauff won their most recent clash at the Cincinnati Open in August. This was her first victory against the 22-year-old and it came at a time when the American was on the rise heading into the US Open. As this success has continued for Gauff, she will likely be confident that she can beat Swiatek again here.
Rybakina chasing Samsonova from 0-3 down
The second spot in the final will be decided by the clash between Samsonova and Rybakina. The Russian is the only unseeded player left in the draw but has shown great potential this year, reaching the final of the WTA 1000 Canadian Open back in August.
At this tournament, she scored her most recent victory against Rybakina. This occurred in the semi-final, where Samsonova fought back from a set down to win 1-6, 6-1, 6-2. This extended her lead in their head-to-head to 3-0.
Nevertheless, the World No. 5 has been playing well here, displaying both power and patience. Rybakina ousted home player Qinwen Zheng, Tatjana Maria, and teen talent Mirra Andreeva to set up a quarter-final clash with World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. The fifth seed previously trailed 1-4 in their head-to-head but soared ahead in their China Open match regardless, winning in straight sets 7-5, 6-2.
This suggests that the meeting between Rybakina and Samsonova could be tight one, with both players looking very much on form.
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