Coco Gauff advances to semi-finals after overcoming poor first set to defeat Yuliia Starodubtseva

World No. 6 Coco Gauff defeated No. 115 Yuliia Starodubtseva 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday, advancing her to a second consecutive semi-final at the China Open. She clawed back into the match with authority after dropping the first set, in which she recorded a staggering seven double faults.

The 20-year-old American’s service game was a problem from the start. She opened the first game with two consecutive double faults and recorded a third to lose the game. Gauff’s service game did not improve throughout the set. She was able to narrowly win the third game that went to deuce four times. She looked progressively more and more demoralized with each service error, throwing her hands up and looking at her coaches. By the end of the set she had recorded a double fault in each of her service games. Her return game was problematic as well. Gauff sailed ball after ball outside of the boundary and essentially gave her opponent free points. The 24-year-old Ukrainian won the set 6-2.

Gauff began the second set with yet another double fault. A collective groan came from the audience, who desperately wanted the errors to stop. Gauff soon cleaned up her play. She battled with her opponent throughout the first game, where two deuces were reached, and eventually held her serve. Gauff picked up steam and achieved a service break in the fourth game. She found herself with a comfortable 4-1 lead and was able to set the tone with her aggressive play. Gauff seemed to relax and focus on simply getting her serve over the net. With fewer mistakes from Gauff, Starodubtseva’s momentum faded. Gauff won the set 6-2.

Things remained easy for Gauff in the third set. She was alone on court practicing her serve before the set started, clearly trying to improve her game. Gauff’s unforced errors did not entirely disappear, but her control over the service game grew. After double faulting in the first game, she won 14 consecutive serve points. She took the first three games, including a service break in the second game. Most importantly, Gauff controlled the rallies. She was able to hit several exceptional shots down the line and cruised to another 6-2 set win.

She will face World No. 19 Paula Badosa of Spain on Saturday. The match will mark Gauff’s seventh tournament semi-final appearance this year, though she has yet to notch a tournament title since the ASB Classic in New Zealand in the first week of January.

—Reporting by Egan Ward