Coco Gauff is gathering all her strength to reach the final of the China Open

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

Sixth-seeded Gauff will face Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic in the final on Sunday.

Muchova defeated the Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Gauff, who has a 7-1 record in Tour finals, made a habit of starting slowly in Beijing this week and the scenario proved successful again as 19th-ranked Badosa won a close opening set and secured 10 of 11 break points.

In the second set before, the Spaniard expanded to a 3-1 lead 2023 US Open Champion Gauff shifted the momentum by saving four break points and then returning to make it 4-4.

Gauff held serve at 5-4 and broke Badosa again to force a decider.

“I felt like I played right the whole time, just a few unforced errors, she played well too,” Gauff said on the court. “I tried to stay focused. Mentally, I just tried to reset. I fell a few times and tried to recover.”

With all the momentum, Gauff beat Badosa three more times – losing one of her own – and won the match in 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Gauff also lost the first set against Naomi Osaka in the fourth round before winning by walkover and against 115th-ranked Yuliia Starodubtseva in the quarterfinals.

“I had strong opponents throughout the tournament,” said Gauff.

Shanghai Masters

Carlos Alcaraz and in first place Jannik Sinner showed no signs of tiring after their China Open final this week, advancing in Shanghai with comfortable straight-set wins in their opening matches.

The second placed Alcaraz, the Beat the Italian On Wednesday he won his fourth title of the year in Beijing, recording his tenth straight win against 19-year-old Shang Juncheng of China 6-2, 6-2.

The Spaniard won the first nine points of the match and four of seven break points as he faced 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 recently and won his first ATP title (Chengdu title), so I’m pretty sure he’ll move up the rankings. I’m just happy to be able to win games like this.”

Sinner dealing with one Doping casehad a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 win over Taro Daniel of Japan and celebrated his 250th career win.

Sinner, who won the US Open last month for the second time this year, scored 12 aces and 38 wins.

“I felt pretty comfortable today,” said Sinner, who next plays against Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina. “I feel in good shape, which is very important for me. I served very, very well, especially in important moments, and moved well.”

Third-seeded Alexander Zverev started with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci while sitting in fourth place Novak Djokovic had a more difficult task and prevailed 7:6 (3), 7:6 (9) against Alex Michelsen from the United States.

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

Yosuke Watanuki also surprised by beating 35th-ranked Brendan Nakashima 7-6 (4), 6-3. The Japanese qualifier next plays seventh-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States or qualifier Terence Atmane of France.

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AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis