Gauff through to first Miami Open semi-final

Coco Gauff celebrates her victory at the Miami Open

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,

Coco Gauff has won all five meetings with upcoming opponent Karolina Muchova

ByHarry PooleBBC Sport journalist

Published20 minutes ago

Coco Gauff overcame a battling performance by Belinda Bencic to reach the Miami Open semi-finals for the first time.

The 22-year-old became the youngest American to reach the women's singles semi-finals at the tournament since Serena Williams did so in 2004 - the year Gauff was born.

Gauff, ranked fourth in the world, was taken to a deciding set by the Swiss 12th seed but won four straight games after conceding a break of serve to close out a 6-3 1-6 6-3 victory in two hours and 15 minutes.

Gauff said that "how I was able to hold my nerve" pleased her most about her quarter-final victory.

"It was a tough match," she added. "It took a lot of running, some falls, but I'm really proud of how I fought. I think that's been a theme of the week."

Gauff, a three-time winner of WTA 1000 events, was contesting her first quarter-final in Miami after last-16 exits in 2022, 2024 and 2025.

She will meet Karolina Muchova for a place in the final, after the Czech defeated Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko 7-5 7-6 (7-5).

If Gauff reaches the final, she will overtake former world number one Iga Swiatek and move to third in the WTA rankings next week.

Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, runner-up to world number one Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells earlier this month, set up a quarter-final against fifth seed Jessica Pegula.

The world number two ended Australian 21-year-old Talia Gibson's impressive run in a 6-2 6-2 victory.

In Wednesday's other quarter-final match, defending champion Sabalenka will take on American Hailey Baptiste.