Coco Gauff made a lightning start to her Wuhan Open semifinal match against Aryna Sabalenka and came very close to booking a final ticket but then blew it all after firing a stunning 21 double faults, including the one she served when facing a match point.
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Early in the match, the American tennis star was all over the top seed, easily winning the first set with a 6-1 scoreline. During the second set, the No. 4 seed was three times up by a break but failed to capitalize on it and paid the ultimate price as the Belarusian came back to win 1-6 6-4 6-4 in two hours and 26 minutes of play.
For Sabalenka - the 2018 and 2019 Wuhan champion - this was her 16th win at the tournament as she is now one win away from making it three out of three at the Chinese WTA 1000 event. On Sunday, she will battle against either No. 5 seed Zheng Qinwen in a rematch of the 2024 Australian Open final or will meet Wang Xinyu.
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On the other side, Gauff - who won the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing last week - fell short of landing back-to-back WTA 1000 titles for the first time in her career and also saw her nine-match winning streak come to an end.
How Sabalenka created a comeback versus Gauff?
The first set was a one-sided affair after the American won the opening five games before routinely sealing the opener in the seventh game.
At the start of the second set, the 2023 US Open champion three times went up by a break and even had a 4-2 lead at one point.
But after blowing her first two breaks of the second set - and then putting herself again in a good position to win - Gauff started blasting double faults and unforced errors, which led to Sabalenka winning the next seven games and going from being two games away from a defeat to leading 1-6 6-4 3-0.
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While the No. 4 seed refused to give up and even got the break back to tie the decider to four games apiece, the Belarusian kept her composure and held to her serve in the ninth game to open a 5-4 lead.
Serving to stay in the match, Gauff started the game with a double fault - later also hit one on Sabalenka's second match point - and that's how the top seed completed her comeback win.
