Number 1 seed Coco Gauff cruised past Montenegro’s number 7 seed Danka Kovinic 6-0 6-2 to reach the fourth final of her career at the ASB Classic in Auckland, and the first title match on hard courts since she won the first trophy of her career at the Ladies Open in Linz in 2019. Gauff will play her first outdoor hard court final.
Kovinic broke Gauff only once at 2-0 in the second set, but Gauff broke straight back in the fourth game. The US player sealed the win with a double break on the fourth match point.
Gauff dropped just 20 games in eight sets this week and beat 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the second round.
“The match was really good on my behalf. Danka played really well. Today, I was playing good, but she showed fight in the end”, said Coco Gauff.
Gauff will take on Spain’s 2016 Roland Garros Junior champion Rebeka Masarova, who beat Belgium’s Yslalie Bonaventure 6-3 6-3 in 67 minutes in all-qualifer match. Bonaventure was playing the first WTA semifinal of her career.Masarova dropped her serve for the first time when she was serving for the match at 5-2 in the second set. The Spaniard earned another break in the next game to seal the second set 6-3.
