Coco Gauff dismisses out-of-sorts Jelena Ostapenko to reach first US Open semifinal

THE BREAK: Gauff has brought out the celebrities at the 2023 US Open.

NEW YORK—Coco Gauff put on a masterclass of consistency to roar past Jelena Ostapenko, 6-0, 6-2 to reach her first US Open semifinal and extend her winning streak to 10 in a row.

Champion at the Western & Southern Open ahead of arriving to Flushing Meadows, Gauff avenged an Australian Open fourth-round defeat from January to the No. 20 seed, who knocked out defending champion Iga Swiatek on Sunday, in a crisp 64 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"Anytime you beat someone 6-0, especially her, I noticed her timing or something wasn't working," Gauff said after the match. "But I've also played her twice. This was the third time. It was a similar way in Australia where I went up a break in the first set and then lost that set. So today when I went up to the break, I was just trying to tell myself to stay on her.

"But yeah, I definitely could tell that she was a little bit frustrated with her performance today."

Indeed, Ostapenko pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament behind a barrage of ruthless aggression under the Ashe Stadium lights, but struggled to replicate that brilliance in the humid light of day, missing early and often in distinctly less pleasant conditions against the No. 6 seed.

"Today was not really good match from me," said a downbeat Ostapenko, who expressed disappointment with the match's noon start. "I think it's really hard to recover from those night matches, because after beating world No. 1, I went to sleep at, like, 5:00 in the morning, and still, you sleep for, I don't know, maybe like seven, eight hours, but you completely don't recover. Yesterday the whole day I felt very low energy. I thought today I was, like, going to wake up and feel better. But honestly, I didn't really feel much better."

Despite a wildly successful summer, one that yielded titles in Washington D.C. in addition to her first WTA 1000 title in Cincinnait, Gauff has been made to battle throughout her 2023 US Open campaign, delighting celebrities ranging from Jimmy Butler to the Obamas as she outlasted efforts from Laura Siegemund, Elise Mertens, and in the round of 16 against former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.

But while she has made great strides to improve her own offensive prowess under coaches Pere Riba and Brad Gilbert, the 2022 Roland Garros finalist able to rely almost entirely on her supreme athleticism on Tuesday, allowing Ostapenko to hit a total 35 unforced errors in 14 games—far less than the whopping 80 she struck in a three-set win over Elena Avanesyan in the second round, but too many to compete with the in-form teenager.

Ostapenko made an admirable push early in the second set, getting on the board with a break of serve, but quickly fell behind again, handing the American a crucial double-break advantage that put her a game from the last four.

A tight final game saw Ostapenko save two match points, but Gauff made no mistakes on the third, ending one of the match's more compelling rallies with a forehand winner that booked her a meeting against either Sorana Cirstea or Roland Garros runner-up Karolina Muchova.

"I'm still in the mindset that I'm in the beginning of the tournament," Gauff said. "I think that's what I have learned, you know, in the past of being in quarterfinals, before I would think, you know, close to the end, but right now I have the mentality that I told myself I still have another two weeks to play. So that's where my mind is at, then obviously when it's over, it's over.

"But right now I'm just saying another two weeks. And also, I think what's helping is playing from D.C. to Montréal to Cincinnati, that was a long type of swing. So I think doing well in those tournaments built my mental endurance. Always had the physical endurance but it built my mental endurance."

Gauff defeated Muchova to win in Cincinnati only two weeks ago, while her last victory over Cirstea came at the 2020 Australian Open; Cirstea and Muchova will face off on Tuesday evening's night session.

Still just 19, Gauff has thrived despite a busy US Open that included a mixed run with the newly-retired Jack Sock and a continuing women's doubles campaign with Jessica Pegula, who exited from the singles tournament on Monday to fellow American Madison Keys.