Coco Gauff enters her maiden Australian Open semifinal, outlasts Marta Kostyuk

MELBOURNE: Continuing her blazing form in 2024, World No. 4 Coco Gauff reached the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in her career after a tough 7-6(6), 6-7(3), 6-2 victory over Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk on Tuesday. The 19-year-old Gauff will face either World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka or No.9 seed Barbora Krejcikova in the semifinal clash.

The No.4 seed trailed 5-1 in the first set and saved two set points -- one in her service game when she was down 5-2 and another more than a half-hour later, at 6-5 in the tiebreak -- before taking the opening.

She fell down early in set two and missed serving out the match in the ninth game; however, she recovered with a solid start in the third set and never looked back, finally winning in three hours and 8 minutes. In order to build a 5-1 first-set lead, Kostyuk saved the first five break points she faced, which included two in the opening game and 0-40 at 3-1. However, by the end of the set, there had been six serve breaks.

The Ukrainian, who was serving for the first time, gave Gauff her first break with consecutive double faults. In the first-set tiebreak, nine points were scored against the server. Gauff led 4-2 and 5-4 at one point, but they rallied to win the final three points. Kostyuk served twice to stay in the match and won the opening four points of the second-set tiebreak. After converting her second set point, she forced a final set and the match.

Gauff faced 39 winners and played a strong defense. "My parents always never wanted me to [specialize] in a sport, which is why when I was 13, I knew that I was going to play tennis, but they still put me in basketball and track. I ended up missing my All-Star game because I had to play the junior US Open. I made the finals of that tournament," Coco Gauff was quoted as saying by WTA.

"I always knew tennis was going to be my thing. Something about playing other sports teaches you how to use your muscles differently, teaches you the mindset. I always recommend parents and kids to not put themselves in a box so early even though you know what your main sport is going to be. You'll be surprised how helpful other sports can be," she added.