Dubai Tennis Championships: Coco Gauff reaches semis to set Iga Swiatek rematch

No5 seed Coco Gauff reached the third semifinal at WTA 1000 level or above of her career with a 62 75 defeat of Madison Keys at the Dubai Tennis Championships here on ThursdayThe 18yearold American was competing in her 10th quarterfinal across WTA 1000 and Grand Slam tournaments but had only previously converted two of those into semifinals at Rome 2021 and Roland Garros 2022 where she made her first major finalTwo years ago Dubai 2021 marked Gauffs WTA 1000 quarterfinal debut This week is the first time she has reached the last four of a tournament at this level of clayGauff has now won her last seven matches against fellow American players and 12 of her last 13 Since Doha exactly one year ago the only compatriot she has lost to is Amanda Anisimova at WimbledonHer overall record against Americans at WTAs main draw level is 196 That includes a 21 lead against Keys whom Gauff also defeated in straight sets at last years US OpenNext up for Gauff is a matchup that has hitherto been challenging for her She will face No1 seed Iga Swiatek in the semifinals for the sixth time in five previous meetings including last years Roland Garros final Gauff has yet to win a setAlso Read Coco Gauff Rafael Nadal Iga Swiatek raise USD 1 million for wartorn UkraineGauff only needed to find three winners to speed through a onesided first set as a disastrous stat sheet for Keys saw the World No23 commit 22 unforced errors to zero winners off the ground The former US Open finalists slew of mistakes included multiple shots wide of the doubles alley and a netted overhead to go down a double breakKeys also went down an early break in the second set but reined her game in to break back and keep level with Gauff through several games But leading 54 she missed a couple of halfchances to break the teenager for the set and at 55 Keys contributed a game reminiscent of the first set featuring a double fault drive volley error and on break point a shanked forehandGauffs solidity on serve had rarely faltered throughout the match She landed 7337 of her first serves and won 7237 of those points In keeping with this she closed out the match with a minimum of fuss converting her second match point as Keys committed her 51st unforced error of the day a forehand into the tramlinesStaying present at the moment and just accepting the good shots she hit was key I knew it was going to be a tough match and Im glad I was able to stay stable when I needed to Gauff said after the winThis is the third time weve played against each other so I think we knew what each other is like We practised last week together in Doha so it definitely helps But sometimes it doesnt help because they know what you like to do because they play with you so much You just have to stick to your game plan she addedGauff on what shes learned from her record against Swiatek All five times I did something wrong To be honest shes playing great tennis and theres a reason shes World No1 Tomorrow I have no pressure I just have to play my game I definitely think Ive gotten better since the last time I played her The ranking is just a number at the end of the day You just have to step on the court believing you can win and thats what Im going to do tomorrowThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever