Gauff rallies to reach the China Open final, Sinner and Alcaraz win in Shanghai

BEIJING (AP) — Coco Gauff rallied from a set down for the third straight match to beat Paula Badosa 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to advance to the final of the China Open.

Sixth-ranked Gauff will face Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen or Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in Sunday’s final, seeking her second WTA-1000 title. Gauff has a 7-1 record in the tour finals.

The 20-year-old American has made a habit of starting slowly in Beijing this week and the script played out again as the No. 19-ranked Badosa took a tight opening set in 59 minutes, saving 10 of 11 break points .

The Spaniard then built a 3-1 lead in the second set before the 2023 US Open champion shifted the momentum by saving four break points and then breaking back to level at 4-4.

Gauff then held for 5-4 and broke Badosa again to force a deciding set.

“I felt like I played the right way the entire time, with just a few unforced errors. She played well too,” Gauff said in her on-court interview. “I tried to stay focused. Mentally I was just trying to reset. I fell a few times and tried to bounce back.

With all the momentum, Gauff broke Badosa three more times – for the loss of one of her own – as she won the match in 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Gauff had also lost the first set to Naomi Osaka in the fourth round before winning via walkover when the four-time major winner retired with a back injury at one set-all.

“I’ve had tough opponents all tournament,” Gauff said.

In the quarterfinals, Gauff trailed No. 115 seed Yuliia Starodubtseva before rallying to win in three.

Shanghai Masters

Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner showed no signs of fatigue in their China Open final earlier this week and continued with comfortable wins in their opening matches.

Second-ranked Alcaraz, who defeated the Italian for his fourth title of the year in Beijing on Wednesday, recorded his 10th consecutive victory with a 6-2, 6-2 result against 19-year-old Shang Juncheng of China.

The 21-year-old Spaniard won the first nine points of the match and four of the seven break points as he rushed another Chinese player, Wu Yibing, in the third round.

“I’m not used to playing against players younger than me,” Alcaraz said. “He’s been playing good tennis lately and won his first ATP (Chengdu title), so I’m pretty sure he’ll rise up the rankings. I’m just happy that I can win these kinds of matches.”

Sinner, who is facing an ongoing doping case, had a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 performance against Japan’s Taro Daniel for his 250th career win.

The Italian, who won the US Open last month for his second major of the year, fired 12 aces and 38 winners.

“I felt pretty comfortable today,” said 23-year-old Sinner, who next plays Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry. “I also feel in good shape physically, which is very important for me. Of course I will try to improve for tomorrow’s performance, but today I served very, very well, especially in important moments, and moved well.”

65th-ranked Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic broke sixth-ranked Andrey Rublev seven times en route to a 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3 victory.

Yosuke Watanuki also pulled off a surprise win, beating 35th-ranked Brendan Nakashima 7-6 (4), 6-3. The Japanese qualifier will next play seventh-ranked Taylor Fritz of the US or French qualifier Terence Atmane.

Alexei Popyrin of Australia, ranked 24th, also defeated Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-2.

Later Saturday, third-ranked Alexander Zverev started his campaign against Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci, while fourth-ranked Novak Djokovic took on Alex Michelsen of the United States.