Oct. 6 (UPI) — No. 2 Iga Swiatek and No. 3 Coco Gauff won Friday at the China Open, advancing to play each other in the tournament semifinals and forming a rematch of the high-profile matchup for the fourth time this year.
“Honestly, when I stepped on the court, some days you just feel like no matter what’s going to happen, you’re going to win,” Gauff said, according to WTA.com.
“It [has] nothing to do with the opponent. It’s just like how you’re feeling. That’s how I felt when I stepped on court today.”
Swiatek first climbed into the semifinals with a 6(8)-7, 7-6(5), 6-1 win over No. 10 Caroline Garcia of France. The Polish tennis star converted 4 of 6 break point opportunities.
Gauff extended her 16-match winning streak with a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 6 Maria Sakkari of Greece. The American totaled four aces and converted 3 of 10 break point opportunities.
Gauff will test her unbeaten streak against Swiatek on Saturday in Beijing. The 2023 U.S. Open champion will appear in her seventh semifinal this year.
Gauff beat Swiatek in August in the 2023 Western & Southern Open semifinal in Cincinnati. She was 0-7 against the former world No. 1 entering that match.
No. 5 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan upset No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in another China Open quarterfinal Friday in Beijing. She will meet No. 22 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia in the other semifinal.
Samsonova beat No. 17 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the quarterfinals.
The Gauff-Swiatek match will air at 10:30 a.m. EDT Saturday on Tennis Channel. The winner of the China Open will win $1.32 million.
