Coco Gauff becomes first teenager in 19 years to reach Cincinnati Open final, sets up Karolina Muchova clash

ByBen Southby

Updated 19/08/2023 at 22:56 GMT

Coco Gauff needed four match points to down the top seed Iga Swiatek and claim one of the biggest wins of her career, and reach her maiden WTA 1000 final. The 19-year-old - who is the youngest player at the Cincinnati Open - battled to win the opening set via tiebreak before the pair shared a set each, meaning Gauff advanced to the final. It’s Gauff’s first victory over Swiatek in eight attempts.

Coco Gauff became the first teenager since 2004 to reach the Cincinnati Open final after she beat world No. 1 Iga Swiatek 7-6(2) 3-6 6-4.

The American, who has also qualified for her maiden WTA 1000 final, fought hard in the near three-hour match to beat Swiatek for the first time.

On finally beating the Pole with her eighth attempt, Gauff felt she had the upper hand in Ohio.

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“I saw a quote - knock me down nine times and get up ten,” she said after the match. “It’s a Cardi B song, so in this case, knock me down seven times, get up eight.

“She [Swiatek] played well on those match points, I didn't think about it. She’s the number one player in the world, you just have to focus on your end of the court.

“I knew overall I was playing a little bit stronger today and it came down to the wire.”

Gauff needed the home crowd on her side as Swiatek threatened to claw her way back into the contest, and almost fought off four Gauff match points to force a deciding tiebreak.

“Thank you guys, so much. It meant a lot today,” she told the crowd. “I’m glad to play in front of the American crowd, I know Iga has a lot of Polish fans here but I appreciate you guys being loud for me even when I was down.”

Gauff did fall behind in the opener, 5-3, but introduced a more aggressive style of tennis to fight her way back into the set and force the tiebreak.

Three unforced Swiatek errors as Gauff took a commanding 4-0 lead before sealing her first set in fifteen attempts against the Pole.

But Swiatek and her devastating forehand would get her out of trouble and back into the game as it so often does. And the 22-year-old levelled things at 1-1.

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In the decider, Swiatek had the momentum, but Gauff had the desire. She broke the top seed before closing out the match with her fourth match point.

Gauff will face French Open finalist Karolina Muchova in Sunday's final after the latter dispatched second seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(4) 6-3 6-2.

Muchova, who lost the Roland Garros final to Swiatek, has also reached her first WTA 1000 final with a fresh Western & Southern Open champion a certainty.

In a rematch of the French Open semi-final, the Czech battled from behind to progress fairly comfortably in the end.

She missed out on taking the opening set - which Sabalenka nicked in a tiebreak - but Muchova showed discipline to avoid facing a single break point in the second and third sets as she edged to victory.

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