Coco Gauff came from behind to defeat Yuliia Starodubtseva and reach the semi-finals of the China Open.

Gauff was no match for the qualifier in the first set of Thursday's tie, but the American rallied back to win 2-6 6-2 6-2.

The world number six will face Paula Badosa, the 15th seed, on Saturday.

She is vying for a place in her first final since she triumphed in Auckland in January, and her first at a WTA 1000 event since she won the Cincinnati Open in 2023.

Data Debrief: Comeback queen

Including retirements, Gauff (two) has achieved multiple match wins from a set down at a single WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career, and for the first time at a single WTA event overall since last year's US Open.

Since the format's inception in 2009, meanwhile, only Caroline Wozniacki (eight) has reached more WTA 1000 semi-finals than Coco Gauff (seven) before turning 21. World number one Iga Swiatek (five) is the only other player to reach 5+ semi-finals over that span.

Badosa stands between Gauff and the final. She beat home hope Zhang Shuai in the quarters, and became the second Spaniard to reach the semi-finals of the China Open since the inception of the tournament in 2004 after Garbine Muguruza in 2015.

She is the second oldest player to reach the semi-finals of the China Open in their maiden appearance after Amelie Mauresmo in 2006.

Naomi Osaka was forced to retire from her China Open meeting with Coco Gauff due to a lower back injury, sending the American through to the quarter-finals.

Osaka, who was aiming for her fourth successive win after returning from maternity leave, had earlier caused Gauff plenty of problems as she took the opening set.

After a series of breaks to open the match, Osaka went into the changeover 3-2 up but received treatment on her back after appearing to struggle with her movement.

Some error-prone play by Gauff allowed Osaka to clinch a third break before serving out the opener, but she swiftly gave up a break to go behind in the second set.

Gauff ultimately edged a hard-fought, 51-minute second set featuring several more breaks, with Osaka retiring before the decider could get underway, having struggled to land her first serves in the latter stages.

Gauff now advances to the China Open quarter-finals for the second year in a row, with Ukraine's Yulia Starodubtsewa up next for the world number six.

Fellow American and second seed Jessica Pegula, meanwhile, was beaten in straight sets by Paula Badosa, who will face home favourite Zhang Shuai in the last eight.

Data Debrief: Twenty up for Gauff

The victory may not have come in the manner she envisaged, but Gauff has brought up her 20th career win over a former grand slam champion on the WTA Tour.

Since 2000, Gauff is the fifth player to achieve 20 such wins before turning 21, along with Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters (28 each), Martina Hingis (24) and Serena Williams (22).

Naomi Osaka is confident she will be able to gain control of her tie with Coco Gauff at the China Open.

Osaka defeated Katie Volynets 6-3 6-2 on Monday to progress to the last 16 in Beijing.

And the four-time grand slam champion's reward was a meeting with world number six Gauff.

The duo have played each other on four occasions, splitting the head-to-head record with two wins each, though their last meeting came in 2022, with Gauff winning in straight sets.

"She's very athletic obviously. For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve," Osaka said.

"So it's definitely going to be a battle - who wants to take control of the point first? And I think it's going to be me."

Osaka's tie with Gauff will represent the first time two former grand slam winners will meet in the last 16 at the China Open since 2016, when Petra Kvitova overcame Garbine Muguruza.

World number two Aryna Sabalenka also sealed her progress on Monday, beating American Ashlyn Krueger 6-2 6-2.

"Control over my emotions, that's the key," said US Open champion Sabalenka, who will face Kruger's compatriot Madison Keys in the next round.

"Before it felt like if I'm not going to win this match, something bad is going to happen. I'm going to die," she explained.

"Nowadays I'm just working hard, I'm trying to improve myself every day. Every time I'm on the court, I'm trying to give my best. If you give your best but you didn't win the match, it's okay."

Sabalenka has now registered 800 winners in WTA 1000 tournaments during 2024, while she is the only woman during the Open Era to register a win percentage of over 80% in WTA tournaments held in China (81.3%, 39-9, minimum10 matches played).

Coco Gauff claimed her 47th hard-court win in WTA-1000 matches with a straight-sets victory over Katie Boulter in the third round at the China Open.

The American now has the most wins on the surface before turning 21 and needed just 85 minutes to see off her opponent, prevailing 7-5 6-2 on Sunday.

Gauff looked set to sail through the first set after breaking Boulter’s serve in the sixth game and taking a 5-2 lead, but the Brit fought back to level the score.

Gauff, who served four of her five aces in the opening set, rallied to win the final two games, with Boulter failing to stop her from converting set point on the third time of asking.

Back in her groove, the world number three cruised through the second, which included three love games, to book a meeting with either Naomi Osaka or fellow American Katie Volynets in the next round. 

Data Debrief: Out on her own

Gauff's win over Clara Burel in the last round pulled her level with Caroline Wozniacki for the joint-most WTA-1000 match wins on hard court before the age of 21 since the format's introduction in 2009.

But she made light work of pushing herself top of that list as she stormed through, dropping her serve just once in the contest.

Gauff (100) has also become the second player to record 100+ break-point conversions at WTA-1000 events in 2024, along with Iga Swiatek (145), getting four out of a possible seven against Boulter.

Coco Gauff prevailed in her opening match at the China Open, beating Clara Burel in straight sets on Friday to reach the third round.

Playing in her first match since her US Open fourth-round exit, Gauff held off the Frenchwoman's challenge, winning 7-5 6-3 in 102 minutes.

The pair traded breaks early in the contest before Burel pulled in front and looked sure to take the first set.

Gauff pushed back though, saving a set point at 5-4 before eventually edging in front with her fourth break of the set.

It was slightly more straightforward in the second, with Gauff's patience eventually rewarded as a three-game winning streak at the end of the match sealed the victory, setting up a meeting with Katie Boulter in the next round. 

Data Debrief: Hard court advantage

With this victory, Gauff has now won 46 matches at WTA-1000 hard-court events, equalling Caroline Wozniacki for the most such wins before turning 21 since the format was introduced in 2009 (46).

It also marks Gauff's 30th straight win over a player ranked outside the top 50, with her last such defeat coming 15 months ago in the first round of Wimbledon 2023 against Sofia Kenin. 

Coco Gauff says her main focus is on improving her serve after adding Matt Daly to her coaching team ahead of the China Open.

Daly, who has previously coached former Wimbledon semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov, has linked up with Gauff and her long-term mentor Jean-Christophe Faurel, following her split with Brad Gilbert earlier this month.

The world number six is gearing up for her first tournament since her US Open title defence ended at the hands of Emma Navarro in round four at Flushing Meadows.

Gauff, who hit 19 double-faults during that defeat, has failed to progress beyond the last 16 in any of her last five events, having previously reached three successive semi-finals at the Italian Open, French Open and Berlin Open.

But the 20-year-old is looking forward to a fresh start, and is already seeing the benefits of her work with Daly, ahead of facing Clara Burel in Beijing on Friday.

"There are other parts of my game that I want to work on, too, but the focus right now is the serve," she told the WTA Insider.

"When I serve well, I play pretty well. For me, that's the basis for my game. Already, the little bit we've done has made a drastic improvement to where I was three weeks ago.

"At this point, there's not a crazy amount, like going through a technique change or resetting everything. It's just subtle things that, doing it for a week now, will help me.

"I'm super excited about a new change and, hopefully, to improve other parts of my game. 

"Working with Brad was really great and, obviously, we had a great partnership. It was just time to do a reset, a refresh and add some things in my game that I felt like I need to do to have a better season next year."

Defenidng US Open champion Coco Gauff was dumped out of the competition on Sunday, blaming a lack of execution in her defeat to fellow American Emma Navarro.

Gauff, who was also comfortably beaten by Navarro at Wimbledon two months ago, fell to a 3-6 6-4 3-6 loss after serving 19 double faults at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

A bright start from Navarro saw earn a first break in the opening game after two double faults by Gauff in a sign of things to come for the world number three.

Despite a comeback in the second set, Gauff's remaining service games were punctuated by more errors in the third, serving 11 of her total double faults in the final set to hand Navarro the victory. 

"I fought really hard today. I just didn't take care of my serve, so that was the biggest difference," Gauff said.

"Mentally and emotionally I gave it my all. Of course, there were things execution-wise, where I wish I could serve better.

"I think if I would did that, it would have been a different story for me in the match."

Navarro will go on to play 26th seed Paula Badosa in the last eight after the Spaniard thrashed China’s Wang Yafan 6-1 6-2 earlier on Sunday.

Data Debrief: Doubles troubles for Gauff

With 19 double faults, Gauff served the equal-most double faults for her career in a single WTA main draw match, serving as many against Martina Trevisan at Roland Garros in 2020.

Navarro is the first American player to defeat the women’s singles defending champion at the US Open since Serena Williams in 2002 against Venus Williams in the final.

She is also now the player with the most hard court WTA quarter-finals in 2024 (seven, surpassing Elena Rybakina).

Coco Gauff rallied after a slow start in the US Open third round, staging a comeback win over Elina Svitolina to keep her title defence alive.

The American dug deep, altering her approach to claim a 3-6 6-3 6-3 victory over the Ukrainian in just over two hours on Friday.

It was an even start to the match as both players tried to figure out their opponent, and Svitolina struck first, winning the final three games in the first set to take the lead.

Having successfully defended three break points during the first set, Svitolina could not maintain her momentum, with Gauff finding her footing, and getting the vital break in the sixth game to stretch into a lead that forced a decider.

After a strong start to the third set, the world number three failed to convert match point three times in the penultimate game but eventually got over the line with another break in the next.

After claiming her 60th win at grand slams, Gauff will face either Emma Navarro or Marta Kostyuk in the next round. 

Data Debrief: Gauff defies age again

Gauff was certainly made to work hard for the victory, but in doing so, she became the youngest player to win 10+ consecutive women's singles matches at the US Open since Serena Williams (11 wins in a row between 1999 and 2000).

She is also the player with the joint-most wins at the US Open in women's singles this century before turning 21, equalling Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams with 17.

Gauff has now reached the fourth round in every grand slam this year, making her just the second player in the last 10 years to achieve that feat before the age of 21, after Iga Swiatek

Coco Gauff breezed into the third round of the US Open with a straight sets defeat of Tatjana Maria on Wednesday.

The reigning champion at Flushing Meadows won 6-4 6-0, with the minimum of fuss, on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Gauff, who is seeded third, needed just 80 minutes to get the job done against her German opponent, and a third-round tie against Elina Svitolina is next up.

The American won seven games in a row to close out the match, with her second-set bagel her fifth at a grand slam this year.

"It was a tricky match," Gauff said. "Overall I thought I did well the first set. I mean, it was close. I got out of those service games.

"Obviously could serve better, but off the ground and at the net there were some errors, but I think every time it was the right decision to make. It was just about execution."

Gauff has met Svitolina, a US Open semi-finalist in 2019, twice before, beating the Ukrainian in this year's Auckland Open final after suffering a defeat at the 2021 Australian Open.

Data Debrief: Nine straight for Coco

Gauff has now won nine straight matches at the US Open, making her the youngest player to do so since Maria Sharapova between 2006 and 2007.

Indeed, the 20-year-old has now won 59 grand slam matches, which trails only Sharapova (81) when it comes to players aged under 21.

Defending champion Coco Gauff stormed into the second round of the US Open with a comfortable straight-sets win over Varvara Gracheva on Monday.

The 20-year-old only needed 67 minutes to see off the Frenchwoman 6-2 6-0 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Gracheva started brightly, serving to love in the first game and twice came close to breaking Gauff's serve in the second before the American finally found her footing.

Gauff got two breaks shortly after, going on a three-game winning run to take the first set.

She was in cruise control in the second though, comfortably seeing off Gracheva without dropping a game as she set up a second-round meeting with Tatiana Maria.

Elsewhere, Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng had to come from behind to beat Amanda Anisimova.

After losing the first set, the seventh seed rallied to win 4-6 6-4 6-2, gaining control of the match in the decider to book a place in the next round.  

Data Debrief: Gauff sends out statement

Gauff won her first grand slam title at Flushing Meadows last year, becoming the first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 1999.

And she is now the youngest player to register eight consecutive wins at the tournament since Maria Sharapova who won nine between 2006-07.

Gauff is also the youngest player to secure 15 women's singles wins at the US Open since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.

The final grand slam of the season is already upon us, with the US Open getting going on Monday.

Flushing Meadows will welcome the best and brightest as they aim to light up New York City, where home favourite Coco Gauff will be the defending women's singles champion.

She clinched her maiden major title at Arthur Ashe Stadium last year, overcoming Aryna Sabalenka 2-6 6-3 6-2.

Gauff will be the third seed at this year's tournament, with Sabalenka second and world number one – the fearsome Iga Swiatek – rated as the favourite.

With the help of Opta data, we look into the likely challengers for this year's title.

Will Swiatek cap stellar year?

Swiatek has won 55 matches in 2024, which is the most of any player on the WTA Tour. She also has the longest winning streak in Tour-level events this season, too, having reeled off 21 straight victories.

The all-conquering Pole has won six Tour-level events this term – the United Cup, Qatar Open, Indian Wells Open, Madrid Open, Italian Open and French Open. Unsurprisingly, Swiatek also has the best win percentage of any player across 2024 (88.7%, having lost just seven of her 62 matches).

Swiatek – who clinched bronze at the Paris Olympics – has won all six finals she has been involved in this term, becoming the third player this century after the Williams sisters to triumph in their first six finals of a season across multiple years (2022 and 2024).

The 23-year-old holds a record of 79-17 at grand slams, and the best winning percentage of any active player (82.3%). Among players to have started their career in the Open Era, only six players could achieve 80 wins in fewer major matches than Swiatek (97) – Monica Seles (86), Chris Evert (89), Martina Hingis (92), Serena Williams, Steffi Graf (93 each) and Venus Williams (94).

She will face qualifier Kamilla Rakhimova in the first round. Swiatek has won in straight sets in all her previous eight matches against qualifiers or lucky losers, while she is also undefeated in her five first-round ties at the US Open.

In fact, the last time Swiatek lost in the opening match of an event was at the WTA Finals 2021 in Guadalajara. She has played 48 tournaments since then without ever falling at the first hurdle (United Cup and Olympics included). 

Among current players with 10+ main draw matches played at the US Open, only Bianca Andreescu (85.7%) and Naomi Osaka (81.5%) have a higher winning percentage at Flushing Meadows than Swiatek (80.0%).

Sabalenka on song

Swiatek and Sabalenka tussled on the clay courts earlier in the season, but the latter has endured a difficult summer swing and had to skip the Olympics.

But she returned to form at the Cincinnati Open, triumphing over Jessica Pegula to claim her second title of the season.

Her first was the Australian Open, and that means Sabalenka could become the first woman to win both hard-court grand slams in the same year since Angelique Kerber in 2016. Indeed, since the Australian Open switched to hard court in 1988, the Belarusian could be the fifth woman to reach both hard-court major finals in successive seasons after Graf (1988-90, 1993-94), Seles (1991-92), Hingis (1997-99) and Victoria Azarenka (2012-13).

Like Swiatek, Sabalenka will take on a qualifier (Priscilla Hon) in round one. She won her previous meeting with Hon, back in Mumbai in 2017. The top two seeds will both face qualifiers in the first round of a grand slam for the first time since the Australian Open 1996 (Seles and Conchita Martinez).

Sabalenka is undefeated in her six first-round ties at Flushing Meadows, while she is aiming to be the fourth player in the Open Era to win the title in Cincinnati and New York in the same season, with Gauff having done just that last year.

Only Swiatek (25) and Emma Navarro (24) have won more hard-court matches than Sabalenka in 2024 (23), while the previous season's runner-up at the US Open has only lost in the first round on one occasion in the Open Era (Pam Shriver in 1979).

Gauff and Pegula the fan favourites

The Olympics ultimately ended in tears and frustration for Gauff, and after reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open and French Open, her season is somewhat threatening to peter out. Indeed, her only title this year came in the first tournament of the campaign, in Auckland.

Yet as one of four American players since 2000 to win the singles title at the US Open, she will be fiercely determined to retain her crown at Flushing Meadows and will be backed by vociferous home support.

The world number three is not the only home favourite in with a firm chance, though.

Pegula won nine successive main-draw matches, equalling her longest career winning streak, across her campaigns at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open, before losing to Sabalenka in the final of the latter tournament.

The sixth seed could become only the fourth player in the Open Era to reach the singles finals at the Canadian Open, Cincinnati Open and US Open in a season after Rosemary Casals (1970), Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1973) and Serena Williams (2013).

The other contenders

Emma Raducanu has not had quite the hard-court swing she would have liked, but the youngster triumphed in New York as a teenager back in 2021, and will be one to keep an eye on.

Jasmine Paolini heads to Flushing Meadows fresh from claiming Olympic gold at Roland-Garros, where she also reached the French Open final earlier this year. The Italian has both hit the most winners (409) and converted the most break points (80) in singles matches at grand slams in 2024.

She will go up against 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu in round one, making the duo the first players to face each other in the women's singles at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows in the same season since Serena Williams and Justine Henin in 2007.

Elena Rybakina, meanwhile, has served the most aces (85) at majors this year.

Then there is two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka. She will go up against Jelena Ostapenko, and combined with Sofia Kenin taking on Raducanu, it makes this tournament the first time that two former grand slam winners are taking each other on in first-round ties in New York since 2019.

Carlos Alcaraz will begin his bid for a third straight grand slam success against a qualifier at the US Open, while top seed Jannik Sinner will face Mackenzie McDonald in the first round.

Alcaraz won his fourth major title at Wimbledon in July, dominating Novak Djokovic in the final after also triumphing at the 2022 US Open, Wimbledon in 2023 and the French Open earlier this year.

Should the Spaniard progress through his first-round match, he could take on Botic van de Zandschulp in round two and Britain's Jack Draper in the third round.

Seeded third, Alcaraz could face world number one Sinner in the semi-finals, with the Italian starting his campaign against a home favourite in McDonald.

Sinner recently avoided a ban after twice testing positive for banned substance clostebol, with an independent tribunal finding he was inadvertently given the steroid in an over-the-counter spray by his physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi.

On the other side of the men's draw, Djokovic will also start against a qualifier as he bids to finally surpass Margaret Court's overall record of 24 grand slam titles.

Djokovic won his 24th major crown at the 2023 tournament at Flushing Meadows, beating Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the final.

He has struggled to find top gear at this year's grand slams, though he did claim his first Olympic gold medal by beating Alcaraz in the showpiece match at Roland-Garros.

In the women's draw, top seed Iga Swiatek will start against a qualifier while Coco Gauff will open her title defence by taking on Varvara Gracheva, with a testing third-round date with Elina Svitolina potentially on the cards for the third-seeded American.

Aryna Sabalenka joins Swiatek in facing a qualifier first, while there is a tricky draw for 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu, who is set for her first Flushing Meadows appearance since 2022.

She will take on the United States' 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, with the victor set to face another American in round two, in either Shelby Rogers or sixth seed Jessica Pegula. 

The first round of the US Open begins on Monday, with the women's singles final set for September 7 and the men's showpiece match taking place one day later.

Yulia Putintseva produced an impressive upset, knocking defending champion Coco Gauff out of the Cincinnati Open in the second round.

The 29-year-old rallied over three sets to hold off Gauff's comeback with a 6-4 2-6 6-4 win in just under two hours.

Putintseva immediately set the tone by breaking the American's serve twice in the opening three games, and though Gauff pulled back to level things at 4-4, the Kazakh got another vital break to take the first set.

The world number two came out on a mission in the second though, piecing together a three-game winning streak as she managed to force a decider.

And it looked like Gauff had found her stride when she took a 4-2 lead, but Putintseva won the last four games in a row to turn the tide and set up a meeting with Paula Badosa in the next round.

Data Debrief: Gauff falls short again

After a disappointing Olympic debut, Gauff made an early exit from the Canadian Open, and she has been relegated to another early exit here.

She was looking to become just the second player to win consecutive titles here, but instead, she struggled once again, making nine double faults against a flawless opponent.

Meanwhile, Putintseva is playing her first tournament since Wimbledon, where she knocked out Iga Swiatek en route to the fourth round. Before this year, she had never progressed past the first round in Cincinnati. 

Now, she is only the fourth player in the past four decades ranked outside the WTA's top 20 to claim wins over the top two on multiple surfaces in a season.

Coco Gauff followed up Olympic disappointment with an early Canadian Open exit after being stunned by Diana Shnaider in Toronto.

World number two Gauff suffered early eliminations at the Paris Olympics last week after falling in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

The number one seed was then downed 6-4 6-1 by her fellow 20-year-old, who secured the first top-10 win of her career to seal a maiden appearance in the quarter-finals of an ATP 1000 event.

"Sometimes I question like whether I should have played or not," Gauff said, "But at the end of the day I wanted to test myself and see if I would be able to, how I would do being mentally tired a little bit and physically fatigued.

"I said going into the tournament I didn't have high expectations, but I wish I could have competed better today, even if it resulted in a loss. I don't think I competed well."

Shnaider is a remarkable 39-14 across all professional matches for the year, winning three titles in Hua Hin, Thailand (hard) in February, Bad Homburg (grass) in June and Budapest (clay) in July.

"I know Coco is very physically prepared for everyone on tour, and she's running very well, she's covering all of the balls and all the angles on the court," Shnaider said.

"So when there were long rallies and I was winning them I was like, 'Wow, I just beat Coco in long rallies. I am good'. I mean, I tried to play it cool, but inside I was like, 'Yes! I made it!'"

Meanwhile, third seed Aryna Sabalenka eased past British number one Katie Boulter for a routine 6-3 6-3 triumph in Canada.

Sabalenka will next face Amanda Anisimova, one of five Americans in the last eight alongside defending champion Jessica Pegula, Peyton Stearns, Emma Navarro and Taylor Townsend.

Since the beginning of 2020, Sabalenka has reached 17 WTA 1000 quarter-finals, a feat only matched by world number one Iga Swiatek for the most at WTA 1000 events in that time.

Coco Gauff continued her preparations for the defence of her US Open title by reaching the next round of the Canadian Open, beating China's Yafan Wang in straight sets.

Gauff needed just under an hour and a half to get the job done in Toronto, emerging a 6-4 6-4 victor to bounce back from her disappointment at the Paris Olympics. 

The world number two started shakily, saving three break points in the third game before converting a break of her own to lead 3-1 in the opening exchanges. 

Wang would fight back, however, winning the next three games on the bounce, but the American would rally to take the first set. 

It looked as though Gauff would cruise to victory after taking a three-game lead, but her Chinese opponent would show her powers of recovery once more, levelling the encounter soon after. 

The pair would trade blows for the remainder, with Gauff proving too strong for Yang late on, claiming the triumph with a love game on serve. 

Gauff will face Diana Shnaider for a place in the quarter-finals following the Russian's triumph over Magdalena Frech earlier in the day. 

Data Debrief: Gauff fights off spirited Wang

While Gauff was far from her best in Toronto, she adjusted well to the hard surface having competed on the clay courts of Roland-Garros at the Olympics. 

The American impressed on serve, registering six aces throughout the contest while also winning 65% of her first-serve points.