Gauff faces Lys in China Open quarterfinals after heated match against Bencic

Defending champion Coco Gauff returned to the quarterfinals of the 2025 China Open after a fierce match against No. 15 seed Belinda Bencic on Tuesday, Sept. 30. The World No.2 came from a set and a break down to win 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 in the Round of 16 on the Diamond Court. The victory not only boosted Gauff into her third straight China Open quarterfinal, but it secured her qualification for the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

Gauff credited a heated exchange of words in the second set for spurring her on to victory. Bencic battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the first set to win five of the next six games to take the set. Gauff’s frustration boiled over in the late states of the set, with her slamming her racket on the ground and yelling to herself.

The tension continued to build in the second set. The dam burst with the score at 3-2, when Bencic became frustrated with noise from Gauff’s team and claimed they were disrupting her serve. 

“For me, the stadium is silent, so you hear both teams,” Gauff said in her post-match press conference. “I played previous rounds [on that court], both my matches I could hear the other teams pretty loud and clear, because it is silent. It doesn't bother me.”

The players then exchanged words across the court.

“I was telling her to be respectful,” Gauff recalled. “I've been nice with her team off court. We've been nice with each other. I just didn't like that comment towards my team.

After holding serve to tie the score 3-3, Bencic appealed to the chair umpire to quiet Gauff’s team. The tension could still be felt as Bencic broke serve to take a 4-3 lead, thanks to a series of double faults from Gauff. However, she responded with an immediate break back to tie the score at 4-4. In the tiebreak, Bencic led 3-1 before Gauff clawed her way back in and sealed the set on a Bencic double fault.

“I was just like, Okay, now I have to win the match, especially now after having that issue,” Gauff said. “I think for me it was more so a bit pettiness, just trying to win the match. The worst is if you have the confrontation and then you lose. It's like a lose/lose. I just wanted to win to be on the winning side of things today.”

Gauff broke serve to start the third set, utilizing shots close to the net. She then broke serve again, growing her lead 4-1. She sealed the win after 2 hours and 29 minutes.

In the quarterfinals Gauff will play Eva Lys, who followed up her first Top 10 win over World No. 10 Elena Rybakina in Round 3 by defeating McCartney Kessler in three sets to make her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal. Lys also reached the fourth round of the Australian Open earlier this year. 

—Reporting by Rebecca Jackson

Lys to face Gauff for first time in her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal

Eva Lys advanced to her first career quarterfinal in a WTA 1000 level tournament after defeating McCartney Kessler 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, on Tuesday, Sept. 30, on the Lotus Court. Lys will face No. 2 seed Coco Gauff for the first time.

“Honestly I’m very excited, I’m very happy to play these players for the first time,” Lys said in an interview afterward. “I want to see where I stand. She’s feeling great on court right now, I’m feeling great.”     

World No. 66 Lys’s win comes on the heels of beating World No. 10 Elena Rybakina in Round 3, her first defeat of a Top 10 player.

“Just believe in yourself,” she said. “For me it’s just mindset, like knowing that I have the level, knowing that I can play with the biggest players, and also on some days be the better player, so yeah definitely some confidence coming up right now.”

Lys struggled early in the match, trying to mirror Kessler’s power and assertiveness but was broken three times in comparison to winning two breaks of her own.

“I was trying to play very, very aggressive with her and she was kind of handling it better than I did,” Lys said.

Lys adjusted in the second set, trying to be more precise and move her opponent more. She drastically improved her first serve percentage over the next two sets, opened up the court, limited her errors, and moved her opponent with accurate shots. Lys sealed the win after Kessler’s shot went into the net. She dropped her racket and became visibly emotional.      

“I’m just trying to take it step by step,” she said. “(The) next match is on my mind right now but also very happy that I could prove myself that I’m on a good path, and finishing the year with great results is a nice feeling, so I'm just trying to keep the roll.”

—Reporting by Dane Vogel