Second-seeded Coco Gauff overcame a first-set misstep to record a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over 16th-seeded Belinda Bencic in the fourth round of the China Open on Tuesday in Beijing.
Gauff, the tournament’s defending champion, recorded four aces and overcame eight double faults to dispatch the Switzerland native in 2 hours and 29 minutes.
Gauff’s third victory this season over Bencic allowed her to clinch a spot in the 2025 WTA Finals in Riyadh.
But it was far from easy for Gauff, who squandered a 4-1 lead in the first set. She bounced back in the second and cruised in the third to improve to 12-2 in three-set matches this year.
“It was a tough match,” Gauff said. “I had chances in the first set to close it out, but overall, I’m happy with how I fought. She was being really aggressive, but I tried my best. … I’m happy to be back in Riyadh and I’m glad I was able to (qualify) here.”
Gauff advanced to set up her first-ever match against Germany’s Eva Lys, who also needed three sets to reach her maiden WTA 1000 quarterfinal.
Lys, who stunned Elena Rybakina in the third round, dropped the first set to McCartney Kessler before posting a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory on Tuesday.
“I’m trying to hold back my tears. It was so fun playing in front of you guys,” the 23-year-old Lys said after the 2-hour, 9-minute match. “I didn’t expect to have a lot of fans in China. I really appreciate that. It means so much to be in my first WTA 1000 quarterfinal.”
Also on Tuesday, third-seeded Amanda Anisimova overcame a sluggish start to record a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.
Muchova breezed to victory in the first set before Anisimova responded with a flourish. The Wimbledon and U.S. Open finalist broke the Czech on two occasions to take the second set and earned a late break in the third to win the match in just over two hours.
Anisimova overcame six aces by Muchova and two double faults of her own to advance to her seventh quarterfinal of the year, matching her career best set in 2022.
Difficult first sets are nothing new for Anisimova, who needed 63 minutes to win her first set in her previous match before rolling to a 7-6 (11), 6-0 win over China’s Shuai Zhang.
Anisimova now will face sixth-seeded Jasmine Paolini of Italy, who earned a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic. Paolini won 61 percent of her first-serve points and converted six of her 12 break-point chances.
Bouzkova broke Paolini’s serve three times in the deciding second set but Paolini broke back four times, including at 6-5 to advance. The victory came on Paolini’s fourth match point.
–Field Level Media
