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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday February 25, 2021


Coco Gauff produced a thrilling comeback from a set down to reach her third career semifinal on Thursday at the Adelaide International. The 16-year-old American has made a habit of battling through three-setters this week, and she has now won four in succession if we count her final round of qualifying against Kaja Juvan—and three from a set down.

Tennis Express

Gauff knocked off fellow American Shelby Rogers, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to book her semifinal slot on Thursday, after a slow start that saw Rogers race out to dominantly as she staked herself to a 6-2, 4-2 lead.

Gauff struggled to deal with the 27-year-old’s pace from the beginning of the match, but she eventually found a way to cope.

“Yeah, in the first set she came out swinging and I didn't—I couldn't really play it safe because she was punishing me for hitting the ball short, so that set just went by super quickly,” she said. “I kind of went down also in the second set and I just kept fighting for every point, really. I knew I needed to be aggressive if I wanted to win and I think I kind of stepped up in the moments where I needed to.”

From the middle of the second set, Gauff became much steadier in rallies, using her backhand to dictate, and she made a lot more returns, many of which were perfectly placed deep in the court.

Gauff snagged the final four games of the second set and then, after falling behind 4-2 in the third, repeated the feat to clinch her victory.


She will face either Belinda Bencic, the No.2 seed, or Storm Sanders in semifinal action on Friday.

“I think I do pretty well under pressure,” the 16-year-old told reporters after the match. “There's going to be matches where I always don't get it when I need to and there's going to be matches where I'm not able to come back, but I think under pressure I think I play pretty well and make the right decisions. I probably play better under pressure than I do in the lead sometimes.”

Gauff lost in the second round in Melbourne to Elina Svitolina, but she has demonstrated a nice ability to bounce back this week in Adelaide. She’s feeling great about the decision to play and relishes the chance to pick up more experience on tour.

“At the end of the day I need more matches under my belt,” she said. “I'm still new and need a lot more experience and it definitely plays a role. I didn't realize how much a role experience plays until I started playing some players who are a lot older than me and they know what to do, even when it comes to the little mind games and all that, they know what to do in those moments. So I'm just learning and picking up a few tricks and as I go."

Teichmann Saves a Pair of Match Points

Switzerland's Jil Teichmann locked horns with Anastasija Sevastova in a brutal battle that saw the Latvian saved five match points to force a deciding set. But Teichman was able a pair of match points herself and eventually prevail when she converted her seventh match point to win, 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-5.

Teichmann will face either Iga Swiatek or Danielle Collins in the semis.

 

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