SAN JOSE — Second seeded Paula Badosa defeated Coco Gauff 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Friday in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic to reach her fourth semifinal of the year.
Badosa won nine straight runs as Gauff struggled with her serve and led 2-0 in the second set before declining to a 5-1 lead. Gauff committed six double errors in the first set, including the last two runs.
“It’s never easy to start against such an aggressive player with a big serve,” Badosa said. “I think I adapted pretty well in the (star) (end) of the first set, and I played a pretty perfect tiebreak, so I’m really happy with that.”
Badosa plays the number 7 seed Daria Kasatkina on Saturday.
Kasatkina, a 2021 finalist, recovered, beating Aryna Sabalenka 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 in 2 hours 23 minutes. Sabalenka, who was injured late in the game, committed 22 double errors.
The other semifinal will feature number 9 seed Veronika Kudermetova against unseeded Shelby Rogers.
Kudermetova took the first three games of the second set and led 5-1 before stopping our number 3 Jabeur 7-6(5), 6-2. Kudermetova reached the semifinals for singles and doubles.
Rogers defeated compatriot Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-4 to improve her mutual record to 3-0. Rogers has not lost a set in three games this week, while dropping just 18 games.
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