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Paula Badosa beats Coco Gauff at Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic to reach fourth semifinal of year

Paula Badosa beats Coco Gauff at Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic to reach fourth semifinal of year


SAN JOSE, Calif. — Second-seeded Paula Badosa beat Coco Gauff 7-6(4), 6-2 on Friday at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic to reach her fourth semifinal of the year.

Badosa won nine straight points while Gauff struggled with her serve, and led 2-0 in the second set before easing to a 5-1 lead. Gauff had six double-faults in the first set, including the final two points.

“It’s never easy to start against such an aggressive player with a big serve,” Badosa said. “I think I adapted pretty well in the (end) of the first set, and I played a pretty perfect tiebreak, so I’m really happy about that.”

Badosa will play No. 7 seed Daria Kasatkina on Saturday.

Kasatkina, a 2021 finalist, recovered to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 in 2 hours, 23 minutes. Sabalenka, who was affected by an injury late in the match, had 22 double-faults.

The other semifinal will feature No. 9 seed Veronika Kudermetova against unseeded Shelby Rogers.

Kudermetova took the opening three games of the second set and led 5-1 before holding off No. 3 seed Ons Jabeur 7-6(5), 6-2. Kudermetova reached the semifinals for singles and doubles.

Rogers topped fellow American Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-4, improving her head-to-head record to 3-0. Rogers has not lost a set in three matches this week, while only dropping 18 games.

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