Iga Swiatek overcomes spirited Caroline Garcia, will meet Coco Gauff in blockbuster China Open semi-final

Published 06/10/2023 at 10:06 GMT

Iga Swiatek is into the semi-final of the China Open after digging deep to overcome Caroline Garcia after three sets in an intense match. The former world No. 1 lost the opening set on a tiebreak but fought back to seal her place in the last four in Beijing, where she will meet Coco Gauff. The US Open winner made it 16 consecutive wins with a straight sets victory over Maria Sakkari.

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Iga Swiatek will meet Coco Gauff in a blockbuster China Open semi-final after coming back from a set down to see off Caroline Garcia.

Garcia had threatened to eliminate the Polish star after taking the opening set, but the former world No. 1 fought back to extend her run in Beijing, winning 6-7(8) 7-6(5) 6-1.

In the opening set tie-break, Swiatek fought back from 5-2 down before making it 6-6 and edging in front. However, Garcia held her nerve to convert a fourth set point and get her nose in front after 53 minutes of intense action.

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Swiatek earned a first break point of the match early in the second set, which she converted, before racing into a 4-1 lead. But Garcia dug deep to rally back and force a second tie-break with her first break of service to level at 5-5.

The Frenchwoman was just two points from closing out a straight-sets win, but a nerveless Swiatek forced a second tie-break, where the drama continued, with Garcia roaring back from 4-0 to draw level at 5-5. Swiatek would ultimately prove too strong, however, and set up a decider.

The third set was a much more straightforward affair for Swiatek. She secured another early break as she raced into a 3-0 lead and a second break helped secure her place in the last-four of the competition after two hours and 35 minutes.

Swiatek has already overcome Sara Sorribes Tormo (6-4 6-3), Varvara Gracheva (6-4 6-1) and Magda Linette (6-1 6-1) in Beijing.

She can now look forward to a Saturday meeting with US Open winner Gauff, who beat Maria Sakkari 6-2 6-4 in what is a repeat of the Cincinnati Open semi-final, which the American won.

Speaking afterwards, Gauff - who has now won 16 straight matches - said she is pleased with how she has performed in China this week.

"I think I served well on the pressure points, and yeah, I think every match has got better for me in this tournament," said Gauff.

Switching her focus to a semi-final encounter with Swiatek, Gauff added: "It's going to be a tough match. We had a tough match in Cincinnati but I'm really excited and focused to play tomorrow."

Gauff has beaten Ekaterina Alexandrova (7-5 6-3), Petra Martic (7-5 5-7 7-6(2)) and Veronika Kudermetova (7-6(5) 6-2) so far.

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