Streaking Gauff Sets Swiatek SF Showdown In Beijing; Rybakina Upsets Sabalenka

Coco Gauff ran her win streak to 16 on Friday in Beijing with a convincing win over the 6th-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-4.

Gauff finished winning losing just five points on first serve, never faced a break point while breaking three times.

“It was definitely as comfortable as it looked, honestly,” Gauff told the WTA after. “She’s a tough player. I think she came out with some great shots. But 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. It’s 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.”

Earlier, second-seeded Iga Swiatek won a tester over the 9th-seeded Caroline Garcia 6-7(8-10), 7-6(7-5), 6-1.

Garcia hit 16 aces and battled back from a break down in the second to force the breaker. She was within two points of the win in straights on Swiatek’s serve late in the second.

Swiatek improves to 3-1 against Garcia.

“For sure it was really intense,” Swiatek said to the WTA. “We played really fast. There was no time sometimes to think or analyze. I’m happy I used my intuition a lot.

“For sure a lot of tight moments. In both of these first sets, every ball counted. I’m happy that in the third I could just go for it.”

Swiatek and Gauff will meet for a ninth time with the Polish star ahead 7-1. But Gauff was victorious in their last meeting in the semifinals at 2023 Cincinnati.

No. 5 seed Elena Rybakina upended world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets 7-5, 6-2. Rybakina finished with 12 aces and was broken once and finished 4-for-9 on break chances.

“I played really well today,” Rybakina said “I served really well, so I’m really happy with my performance today. It’s always tough battles against Aryna and I really enjoy playing against her.”

Sabalenka was mired by eight doubles.

Rybakina will now face Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova who blew past 13th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2.

Samsonova is ahead of Rybakina 3-0 in their tour-level encounters including a win this year in the Montreal semifinals.

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