Coco Gauff equals Serena Williams feat after reaching the China Open final

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Coco Gauff has followed in the footsteps of Serena Williams after reaching the China Open final.

The 20-year-old’s mental resilience has been on full display in the Chinese capital as she once again came from a set down to clinch victory.

The American was a set and a break down against Paula Badosa in their semi-final clash, but she kept attacking and eventually found a way to break her opponent’s spirit.

After two hours and 20 minutes of back and forth action, Gauff booked a spot in just her second final of 2024 and a first WTA 1000 final since winning the 2023 Cincinnati Masters.

Gauff’s latest victory also marks the first time that she has defeated a top 20 player since the Berlin Open in June.

How did Coco Gauff match Serena Williams at the China Open?

Coco Gauff defeated Badosa for the third time in her career to move into her ninth career final.

In the process, the World number six became the first American woman to reach the China Open championship match since the iconic Serena Williams did in 2013.

That year the 23-time Grand Slam champion defeated Agnieszka Radwańska 6-2, 6-2 to book her spot in the final.

Williams went on to win the title by producing another dominant performance in the final, this time against Jelena Jankovic by the same scoreline.

This is another Williams feat that Gauff will want to match as she will compete in Sunday’s final against either US Open semi-finalist Karolina Muchova, who beat Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng in their semi-final 6-3, 6-4.

Who will be Coco Gauff’s opponent in the China Open final?

Despite not playing her best tennis at times during the tournament, Gauff’s resilience has shone through and now she is in the China Open final.

She has lost the opening set in her last three matches against Naomi Osaka, Yulia Starodubtsewa and Badosa.

But Gauff levelled the match against Osaka before she retired from the match due to a lower back injury, before completing the comeback against Starodubtsewa and Badosa respectively.

This run to the final is the confidence boost that Gauff needed following a difficult summer in which she suffered poor results at Wimbledon, the Olympics and the North American hard court swing, including the US Open.