GAUFF REACHES FOURTH SEMI-FINAL OF THE SEASON AT DC OPEN, EASES PAST BENCIC

Coco Gauff is into her fourth semi-final of the season after easing past Belinda Bencic 6-1, 6-2 on Friday night at the DC Open in Washington.

The third seed needed just one hour and 28 minutes to breeze through and will now face Liudmila Samsonova on Saturday evening.

It would be her second final of the season and the first since the turn of the year. At that point, she reached the final of the ASB Classic in Auckland.

She broke Bencic six times on nine break point opportunities and in both sets won four straight games to win each set. This also included four vital aces in a single game up a break at 3-2, she held serve en route to victory.

“I’m really happy with how I played today,” Gauff told reporters afterward. “Belinda is not an easy player to play. I played all types of tennis. I was the aggressor in some moments. Some moments I was the defender.

“This definitely is probably one of the top matches that I have played. … I think with the caliber of player and the way I played, this is definitely one of the top ones.

“This is the tennis that I have been trying to play. I don’t know if I’m a hard critic on myself, but I feel like I could do better in a lot of moments today even though the scoreline seemed easier, but I don’t think the scoreline reflected the level of the match today.”