Gauff defeats Pliskova to continue rise

Coco Gauff has continued her impressive rise, the teenage American following up her run to the French Open final by reaching the semi-finals of a grass-court tournament for the first time.

Gauff defeated Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova 7-5 6-4 at the Berlin Open on Friday to set up a match with Ons Jabeur in the last four.

Already in uncharted territory in her first quarter-final on grass, the 18-year-old Gauff had to fight back from 2-0 down at the start of each set against the big-serving Czech.

Gauff said she needed some time to find her rhythm, and found the answer by mixing up her shots to include more slices.

“It was really tough to be honest. I had to come up with a couple of different game styles that I normally don’t use, but sometimes it’s like that,” she said.

Pliskova missed out on what would have been her first final since August, having missed the first two months of this season when she broke her arm in an accident while training in the gym.

Fourth-ranked Jabeur won against Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-2 to reach the semi-finals.

In the other half of the draw, sixth-ranked Maria Sakkari is another first-time semi-finalist on grass following her quickfire 6-0 6-3 win over French Open semi-finalist Daria Kasatkina.

Kasatkina dropped the first set in her previous two matches in Berlin this week before comeback wins but couldn’t find a way back against Sakkari’s power hitting.

“I’m very pleased that I had the right game plan. I went for it, I was very aggressive and I really enjoyed it,” said Sakkari, who has won three straight matches for the first time since March when she reached the Indian Wells final.

The Greek player will face Swiss Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in the semifinals after she beat Russian Veronika Kudermetova 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Meanwhile, at the Veneto Open in Italy, top seed Alison Van Uytvanck, of Belgium, eased into the semi-finals with a 6-4 6-2 win over Swiss player Ylena In-Albon.

Van Uytvanck hasn’t dropped a set this week and will face Harmony Tan in the semi-finals after the Frenchwoman beat Romanian Ana Bogdan 6-2 5-7 6-3.

The other semi pits sixth seed Diane Parry against former world No. 5 Sara Errani.

At the Birmingham Classic in England, former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep showed her readiness for the grass-court grand slam as she outclassed Briton Katie Boulter 6-4 6-1 in the quarter-finals.