January 05, (THEWILL) – Coco Gauff, the 19-year-old American tennis star, continued her dominant defence of the Auckland Classic title on Friday, beating Varvara Gracheva 6-1 6-1 to reach the semi-finals.
The world number three was in blistering form, dispatching her French opponent in just 52 minutes amid gathering rain clouds. Gauff has yet to drop a set in Auckland this year, mirroring her run to the title last season.
She was particularly pleased with her serving display, conceding just 11 points on serve and not facing a single break point. “I thought I served really well, probably the best so far at this tournament, which is something I was really working on in the off-season,” said the top seed.
In the semi-finals, Gauff will meet fellow American Emma Navarro, the fourth seed, who defeated Croatia’s Petra Martic 6-4 6-3. Navarro fought back from a slow start, breaking the seventh seed’s serve six times in their quarter-final clash. Despite practising together this week, Navarro and Gauff have not played each other since their early teens.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian second seed Elena Svitolina faces Czech fifth seed Marie Bouzkova, while two unseeded players, China’s Wang Xiyu and France’s Diane Parry, meet in the last quarter-final. The winner of the Auckland Classic will head into next week’s Australian Open high on confidence.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
