Gauff Finds New Weapons in Cincinnati as Bejlek Blocks Her Path to the Final
Coco Gauff reached her third consecutive Cincinnati Open semi-final on Friday night, dismantling Ukraine's 10th-seeded Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-2 in just 70 minutes (WTA Tennis).
The scoreline tells the story of a player who has found something new. Gauff broke Kostyuk's serve six times across the match — a break being when the returner wins a game the server was expected to hold — and never faced a set she could not control. It was her most complete performance in a month that had tested her patience.
Before Cincinnati, Gauff had lost in the semi-finals at both Wimbledon and the Canadian Open earlier in August (BBC Sport). Two last-four defeats in consecutive weeks could have shaken a 22-year-old. Instead, Gauff changed what she was doing.
The shift is tactical. Gauff has been coming to the net more often, finishing points at the front of the court rather than grinding everything out from the baseline. She told BBC Sport she "did not realize how good she was at coming to the net until Wimbledon," and that the new approach is "reaping rewards." She also revealed that 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert has been texting her, urging her to move forward (BBC Sport).
When one of the greatest volleyers in tennis history is messaging you to attack, you listen. The results in Cincinnati suggest Gauff has.
Standing between Gauff and the final is Sara Bejlek, a Czech player ranked 35th in the world and unseeded at this tournament — meaning she was not protected by the seeding system that keeps top players apart in early rounds. Bejlek reached her first ever WTA 1000 quarter-final this week (WTA Tennis), then went further: she came from a set down to beat American Madison Keys in the quarter-final (WTA Tennis).
The semi-final was scheduled for Saturday 22 August on the P&G Stadium Court in Cincinnati, played on hard court (WTA Tennis). The other side of the draw features No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula, giving the last four a tidy mix: one established American star, one rising Czech qualifier-slayer, and Gauff in between (Cincinnati.com).
For Gauff, the timing matters. The US Open begins in New York on 30 August (BBC Sport). Cincinnati is the last WTA 1000 event — the tier just below the Grand Slams — before Flushing Meadows. Finding a new dimension to your game eight days before your home major is either perfect timing or a work in progress exposed under pressure.
The Bejlek match will tell us which.
