Fifth-seeded Coco Gauff won an all-American quarterfinal on Thursday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, beating Madison Keys 6-2, 7-5 in the United Arab Emirates.
Gauff saved the only break point she faced in the 81-minute match, and she converted four of her five break opportunities.
The result moves Gauff into a semifinal matchup with top-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland, the reigning French Open champion. Swiatek, who got a walkover into the semis when the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova couldn’t play because of a viral illness, has lost no more than one game in nine of past 10 sets.
The other semifinal will feature third-seeded Jessica Pegula of the United States and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic. Pegula got a quarterfinal walkover when the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova withdrew due to an abdominal injury. Krejcikova came from behind to upset second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belurus 0-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1.
Merida Open Akron
Top-seeded Magda Linette was on the verge of heading to a third set, but instead the Polish player advanced to the quarterfinals in Merida, Mexico, when Hungary’s Panna Udvardy was forced to retire due to an ankle injury.
Linette won the first set 6-0 but trailed the second 5-2 when Udvardy had to stop. Udvardy was rallying even though she had won just 40 percent of her first-serve points (10 of 25) and none of her 10 second-serve points.
Second-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States edged Russia’s Varvara Gracheva 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (5) in second-round action, and Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson upset fifth-seeded U.S. player Alycia Parks 6-4, 6-2. In the last match of the night, fourth-seeded Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic downed Belgium’s Ysaline Bonaventure 6-0, 7-5.
–Field Level Media
