Coco Gauff powered into the China Open semifinals for the third year in a row, battling back against Eva Lys’s aggressive power shots to win their quarterfinal match 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday in Beijing.
The American teen star, seeded No. 2, marked her fourth semifinal of the 2025 tennis season and her first on a non-clay surface since claiming the WTA Finals in Riyadh last year. Gauff now boasts an impressive 14-1 career record at the China Open, reaching at least the final four in all three of her appearances here. She’s the first player to hit three straight semifinals in Beijing since Jelena Jankovic did it from 2006 to 2008, according to WTA stats.
Gauff aims to defend a title for just the second time in her career, after back-to-back wins in Auckland in 2023 and 2024. Up next, she’ll face either No. 3 seed Amanda Anisimova or No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini in the women’s tennis semifinals.
The match kicked off with a grueling 16-shot rally on the very first point, where Lys showed her all-out attacking style. But Gauff shut it down with a stunning lob and forehand winner, setting the tone early.
Ranked No. 66, Lys stuck to her guns, firing 14 winners and pushing Gauff into long rallies—often over 10 shots—that forced errors. The first set saw five straight breaks of serve, while the second had three in a row. Still, Gauff stayed in control, holding the lead throughout and capitalizing on Lys’s inconsistencies. The German ended up with 48 unforced errors, per WTA reports, which proved too much to overcome.
“She’s a tough opponent; she hit some incredible shots on the run,” Gauff said afterward. “I was trying my best to stay aggressive, just staying confident in my game and not being too passive when I have the lead.”
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