Coco Gauff saved two match points to defeat reigning French Open champion Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 7-6 , 6-2 in a US Open quarter-final on Wednesday.
Fourth-ranked Gauff, a 22-year-old American and two-time Grand Slam winner, advanced to Thursday’s semi-finals, where she will face Kazakh star Elena Rybakina. Rybakina has a 1-1 career record against Gauff, winning a semi-final last month in Canada after Gauff won their only other meeting in Canada in 2022. Fifth-ranked Andreeva, a 19-year-old Russian, won her first major title at Roland Garros but was foiled despite owning two match points in the second set tie-breaker.
Andreeva netted a forehand volley after two double faults to surrender a break in the eighth game but Gauff, serving for the set in the ninth game, netted a forehand for a fourth consecutive break as they battled into a tie-breaker. Gauff saved two match points in the tie-breaker when Andreeva smacked forehands wide and long, then captured the set when Andreeva sent a forehand long then netted a forehand. Andreeva dominated the opening set, then denied Gauff’s first break point chance of the day with a forehand winner and held in the fourth game to 2-2. Gauff broke for a 4-2 edge when Andreeva sent a backhand long but the Russian broke back in the seventh game when Gauff sent a forehand wide.
