AP, RIYADH
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated.
Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set.
She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.
Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching, left, and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia react during their women’s doubles semi-final against Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US at the WTA Finals at King Saud University in Riyadh on Friday.
Photo: AP
Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book her place in the final, which was to be played after press time last night.
Zheng continued her remarkable season by reaching the decider in her first appearance. The Chinese player has won 31 of her 36 matches since Wimbledon, more than anyone else on the tour.
Zheng struck nine aces as she defeated a tired-looking Krejcikova in 1 hour, 40 minutes.
Coco Gauff of the US in action against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in their semi final match during the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Friday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In the women’s doubles at King Saud University, Taiwan’s hopes of a doubles crown were dashed as Chan and partner Veronika Kudermetova of Russia were ousted 6-0, 7-6 (7/5) by Taylor Townsend of the US and the Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova.
The match looked lie it was going to be over quickly when Siniakova and Townsend raced through the first set without dropping a game and were 4-2 in the second, but things got more difficult for them from there.
They needed seven match points to complete the win as Chan and Kudermetova staged a comeback — similar to their successful effort against Italian duo Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in the group stage to reach the semis.
Townsend and Siniakova were to play Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe after the Canadian-New Zealand duo beat Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 7-6 (9/7), 6-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer
