Coco Gauff roars back from summer slide to make China Open final

Coco Gauff will contest her first final for nine months at the China Open in Beijing. The American continued her encouraging fortnight after a difficult summer with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Paula Badosa in the semi-finals.

The Spaniard, one of the form players of the past few months, was very much in the ascendancy at a set and 4-2 up but Gauff responded with four games in a row to level the match and maintained her momentum in the deciding set.

“I’m really happy with how I was able to come back today,” said Gauff. “Paula’s a tough opponent and every time we play it’s a tough match. I knew mentally I had to be there every point and, regardless of the result, I’m proud of how I was able to fight. It feels great to finish it with a final. I told my team, it’s a long two weeks but it’s worth it.”

Gauff’s last final came in Auckland in January, when she defeated Elina Svitolina to claim her seventh tour level title.

She will take on the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova in the final, who followed up her upset of Aryna Sabalenka by defeating home favourite Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-4.