Coco Gauff advances to semifinals at Adelaide International
Adelaide, Feb 25 (AP): Coco Gauff and Jil Teichmann advanced to the Adelaide International semifinals on Thursday after three-set wins on the Memorial Drive hard courts. The 16-year-old Gauff beat Shelby Rogers 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, and Teichmann defeated Anastasija Sevastova 6-4 ,6-7 (8), 7-5.
Gauff has won five straight matches in Adelaide, including two in qualifying, since her second-round loss to fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open. She and Rogers had an extended rally in the ninth game of the third set, which Gauff won after setting up game point with a cross-court return. Gauff will next face second-seeded Belinda Bencic, who beat Storm Sanders 6-2, 6-4. Teichmann had five match points in the second-set tiebreaker against Sevastova but was unable to close it out. The 23-year-old Swiss player was then forced to save two match points while trailing 5-4 in the third. It was a rollercoaster and what I felt was nerves, Teichmann said. It was a very tense match, very long rallies every time. Anastasija is a tough player and you have to play every point and every game, doesn’t matter if you’re serving or returning. French Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced to the semifinals when American opponent Danielle Collins retired with an undisclosed injury while trailing 6-3, 3-0.