Coco Gauff defeated Varvara Gracheva 6-1, 6-1 on Friday in Auckland to easily advance to the ASB Classic semi-finals. The reigning US Open winner has won eight straight games in Auckland and she will take on Emma Navarro. After a rain-delayed start to the match, Gauff, who is defending her championship in New Zealand, easily defeated her opponent, Gracheva, in just 53 minutes.

Gauff jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before Gracheva held her serve for the first game, but the American won the opening set in 33 minutes because of her first serve and her strong and accurate baseline play.

Gauff established a 4-0 lead in the second set, continuing similarly. Gauff was brilliant on break points, converting five of seven, while Gracheva’s number of unforced errors kept rising. With a third match point converted, she secured her spot in the semi-finals.

Gauff expressed her feelings after the win and said: “I thought I served well. Probably the best so far in the tournament, which is something I’ve been working on off-season. I’m really happy with how I played. I’m glad I was able to finish my match before more rain.”

 

Gauff in Auckland, ranking, and results in 2024

Ranked no.

3 (career-high), the American has a composed 3-0 match record in 2024. Coco is now playing in Auckland where she overcame the world no.95 Claire Liu 6-4 6-2, the world no.117 Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-0 and the world no.42 Varvara Gracheva 6-1 6-1.

Coco Gauff will come up against the world no.31 Emma Navarro in the semifinal. They have never played each other as of now in top competitions.

Coco won 6 titles in her career: 4 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 1 on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)

Coco Gauff

Embed from Getty Images