ADELAIDE, Australia: Second seeded Belinda Bencic saw off Australian Storm Sanders to set up a semifinal against 16-year-old American Coco Gauff at the Adelaide International on Thursday.
Bencic reached her first semifinal since the WTA Finals in November 2019 when she defeated the tricky left-handed Australian 6-2, 6-4.
Despite winning in straight sets, Sanders pushed the Swiss world number 12 all the way, Bencic eventually winning in one and a half hours.
“I knew she was going to be a really uncomfortable opponent,” Bencic said of Sanders, who was ranked 292 before the tournament.
“I had a hard time getting used to how she plays because I have never played her before and she’s still kind of unknown.”
Bencic said she was looking forward to taking on Gauff, who had to win through qualifying just to make the main draw.
“She’s a great player,” Bencic said of the American.
“She has had amazing results for how young she is.”
Gauff came from a set down to beat countrywoman Shelby Rogers 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Rogers raced through the first set before Gauff came back to level the match.
Rogers then opened a 4-2 lead in the deciding set, however, Gauff again came back, winning the next four games to close out the quarterfinal.
The second semifinal features Poland’s reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek against Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann.
Swiatek progressed when her opponent, American Danielle Collins, retired injured with a lower back problem when trailing 6-2, 3-0.
In contrast, Teichmann claimed her spot in the semifinals after a marathon win over Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova.
Teichmann was on court for almost three hours before seeing off Sevastova 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5.
The 23-year-old had five match points in the second set, which she couldn’t convert, and was forced to save two in the third before defeating Sevastova in a titanic struggle.
“It was a rollercoaster and what I felt was nerves,” Teichmann said.
“It was a very tense match, very long rallies every time.
“Anastasija is a tough player and you have to play every point and every game, doesn’t matter if you’re serving or returning.” — AFP
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