Coco Gauff battles back to beat Paula Badosa and reach China Open final

Coco Gauff overcame a first-set blip to beat Paula Badsoa and advance into the China Open final. The American came through 4-6 6-4 6-2, but was pushed to the limit by her Spanish opponent, who is a former world No. 2. Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, will face either the unseeded Czech player Karolina Muchova or Olympic champion and home favourite Zheng Qinwen in the final.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

Coco Gauff survived a first-set scare to beat Paula Badosa and reach the final of the China Open in Beijing.

The American, seeded fourth in the Chinese capital, was forced to produce her best by Badosa, the 15th seed, who had been on a hot streak of form in her run to the last four, including beating the second seed Jessica Pegula.

The 20-year-old Gauff's serving inconsistencies were an issue, as she hit 11 double faults throughout the course of the match, and Badosa took full advantage to break in the fifth game, going up 3-2.

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A tug-of-war ensued at 4-3 on the Badosa serve, and Gauff broke the Spaniard's resilience after eight break-point opportunities, but she handed the initiative back to the former world No. 2, who broke once more to 15 immediately afterwards as the American's serve wilted.

Badosa needed three set points to snag first blood, and she continued her momentum into the second, breaking Gauff straight away in the first game after the changeover.

The Spaniard, who was ranked world No. 140 back in May, spurned another five break-point chances in the second set, including four at 3-1 up, and the pendulum swung back in Gauff's favour as she broke back for 4-4.

The American was into her stride at that point, rediscovering her serving rhythm to move ahead in the set for the first time, before breaking Badosa to love to level the scores.

The pair traded breaks in the early exchanges of the decider, but it was Gauff whose serve returned first, going up 4-1 in the final set and seemingly sailing into Sunday's final, but Badosa notched another strong service hold to remain in contention.

That would prove in vain, however, as she was broken for a final time by the world No. 6, who converted her second match point to book her place back on the Diamond Court for Sunday's final.

"It was a tough match, I just tried to stay focused," said Gauff. "Mentally I tried to reset. I got down a couple of times but I tried to bounce back.

"I've had tough opponents the whole tournament. Happy to be in the final."