Coco Gauff has reached her first WTA final since January after completing an absolutely stunning comeback win over Paula Badosa in the Beijing semifinal.
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Through the first set and a half, barely anything was working in the American's game and everything was pointing toward the 15th-seeded Spaniard getting the job routinely done in two sets.
But after finding herself down by a set - a break - and with Badosa having a chance to go up by a double break in the second set, the No. 4 miraculously recovered to win 4-6 6-4 6-2.
After a couple of very rough months and failing to do well on the biggest stage, Gauff is now set to play her first final since winning Auckland in the first week of 2024.
On Sunday, the 20-year-old will be battling either Zheng Qinwen or Karolina Muchova for her second WTA 1000 title.
How Gauff came back to beat Badosa?
In the first set, the American was struggling on her serve as she hit five double faults and also realized just one of her 11 break points. While the No. 4 seed still managed to recover from an early break down, she lost her serve again in the 10th game and Badosa served out for the first set in the 10th game.
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After losing the last two games of the first set, Gauff also found herself 0-2 down in the second set and facing a break point. She saved that break point and also four other break points in the fifth game.
After just barely avoiding going down by a set and a double break, the No. 4 seed stunningly won four games in a row from 2-4 down to overturn the deficit and force a decider.
As expected, with the momentum on her side, Gauff didn't have a tough job of sealing her comeback win as she broke Badosa three times in the third set to complete her victory in two hours and 20 minutes of play.
