Coco Gauff has stormed into the semi-finals of the Madrid Open, where she will meet world number two Iga Swiatek.
Gauff rated herself 9/10 for her quarter-final win over Mirra Andreeva, where the fourth seed beat the seventh seed 7-5, 6-1.
The American’s run to the semi-finals of the Madrid Open has also involved wins over Dayana Yastremska, Ann Li and Belinda Bencic.
Gauff now takes on second seed Swiatek for a place in the final, with Aryna Sabalenka and Elina Svitolina meeting in the other semi-final.
World number four Gauff is taking on the WTA 1000 event having lost in the quarter-finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Coco Gauff ‘more patient’ as she reaches Madrid Open semi-final
She fell to Jasmine Paolini in Stuttgart last month, but has quickly recovered with a strong showing in Madrid.
Speaking after her latest victory in the Spanish capital, she told Tennis Channel: “I think I am being more patient.
READ MORE: Coco Gauff says what she’s ‘glad’ happened at the Madrid Open after the power outage in Spain
“I think last year or previous years I maybe tend to outhit here, just because of the altitude, so this year I am letting the court do that work for me.
“Maybe not going as big as I would like sometimes and just being a little bit more aggressive but with margin, just because I feel with altitude that you don’t really have to do much for the ball to get jumping here.
“I also feel like I am serving a lot better than I did in previous years, mixing up the serve, using slice, flat, all the different options. So I think that goes to why I am winning so many first serve points.”
What is the head-to-head record between Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek?
Andreeva certainly represented a potential banana skin for Gauff, with the former more than capable of pulling off upsets.
The Russian teenager, who only just turned 18, has already won titles at Dubai and Indian Wells this season.
But Gauff ensured a shock defeat was off the cards by battling extremely hard to take the first set, before ultimately easing to a straight set win.
Swiatek will, however, represent a different test entirely, with the Pole having won four of her five Grand Slam titles on clay.
That includes a 2022 French Open final win over Gauff, a tournament Swiatek has remarkably won in four of the last five years.
Such dominance is also true of her head-to-head record with the American, with Swiatek having won 11 of their 14 WTA matches so far.
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