Fourth-seeded Coco Gauff overcame a slow start to record a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva 2-6, 6-2, 6 in the quarterfinal match of the China Open on Thursday :2 in Beijing.

Gauff won 78.6 percent of her first serve points and saved 10 of 13 break points while overcoming 11 double faults to defeat Starodubtseva in 1 hour and 51 minutes. The former US Open champion reached her second consecutive semi-final in Beijing and will face 15th-seeded Spaniard Paula Badosa, who scored a 6-1, 7-6 (4) victory over Chinese wildcard Shuai Zhang.

Badosa has a 3-2 lead over Gauff in their head-to-head competitions, although the latter won their only meeting of the season in Rome.

However, Gauff found herself in unfamiliar territory on Thursday when she faced Starodubtseva for the first time.

“I was just trying to remember what we were working on on the practice field,” Gauff said. “There are still a lot of things I need to get used to. So for me it’s about trusting the process and focusing on it.”

“Today I can’t control how I play or how she plays, but I can just try to control my mindset and commit to the process.”

Things didn’t look good at the start as Starodubtseva had a 10-0 advantage in winning goals while Gauff committed seven double faults. However, Gauff turned the tables in the second set, saving two break points in her first service game and two more to take control of the contest.

Badosa recorded her 28th win in her last 35 matches and secured a third semifinal berth in her last five tournaments by eliminating her opponent in 1 hour and 23 minutes.

Ten aces were the deciding factor for Badosa, who also capitalized on 22 unforced errors from Zhang.

“She played at a very high level, you can’t tell by the ranking or the momentum she went through. “I also knew that she was playing in front of a home crowd, which is always an extra motivation,” said Badosa.

“I started really strong, my ideas were very clear and I played very aggressively. Everything went as I wanted it could have gone either way.

The loss ended a magical run for Zhang, who entered the tournament with a 24-game losing streak.

–Field level media