Gauff overcomes setback to reach China Open semis

Coco Gauff is through to the semi-finals of the China Open for a second consecutive year after coming from behind to beat Yuliia Starodubtseva.

Fourth seed Gauff lost the first set of the quarter-final on Thursday but fought back to beat the Ukrainian qualifier 2-6 6-2 6-2.

The American – ranked sixth in the world – has had a difficult year having failed to reach a Grand Slam final and losing in the third round of the Paris Olympics.

Gauff, 20, will face 15th seed Paula Badosa in Saturday’s semi-final for a spot in her first final since winning in Auckland in January.

Badosa reached the last four by defeating China’s Zhang Shuai in straight sets.

The Spaniard saw off the wildcard 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in one hour 23 minutes, although she had to fight back from 1-3 down in the second set.

Badosa was ranked 140 in the world earlier this year, but has risen to 19th after 28 wins in 35 matches since May.

The remaining quarter-finals will take place on Friday with top seed Aryna Sabalenka facing Karolina Muchova, and Mirra Andreeva taking on fifth seed Qinwen Zheng.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Billy Harris exited the Shanghai Masters in the opening round, losing 6-4 6-4 to Italy’s Mattia Bellucci.