Gauff made the semis in Berlin after Jabeur retired after losing the first set 6-7
Coco Gauff world #2 and governance In the US The Open champion advanced to the semi-finals of the Ecotrans Ladies Open following a stunning first set which unfortunately ended with her opponent retiring. Gauff, just twenty years old, was competing in his eighth quarterfinal of the season.
Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur has won three finals including the last two on the grass at the All England Club. Old world #2 with his incredibly varied game, it’s fun to watch, especially on grass. A twenty-nine-year-old woman currently ranked #10, was looking for a season finale. He has been suffering from a chronic knee injury and today he did not play due to illness.
Gauff won the toss and elected to serve. He did 4/6 first served and crushed a forehand crosscourt for 1-0. Jabeur opened with a nice backhand slice winner and equalized with an ace up the tee.
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The American faced double point and deuce still holding when Jabeur hit a forehand. Jabeur opened with two faults in a row and faced a break point at deuce but held with his second ace. Gauff opened and closed the fifth with leading aces 3-2.
Jabeur opened the sixth with a stunning forehand that fell across the court and despite facing two deuces and two break points, held 3-3 when Gauff hit the lead. Gauff opened the seventh with two consecutive backhand winners and held it to love 4-3. Jabeur who is using the new balls hit a stunning front down the line and held on to favor par.
The American opened the ninth with a quick backhand winner and a monster tee shot, held at love 5-4. Jabeur who was working to stay in the game was soft in the air and appeared to be suffering from a vestibular condition. His first service went MIA and after two deuce points towards the fixed point.
The two-time Wimbledon finalist dug deep into his grass court bag of tricks to pull out six more deuce points and five more sets, hitting three winners including a forehand volley to pull out.
The crowd who participated in this exciting high-level game, called on the players with excitement as the game drew to a close. Gauff handled the disappointment of not breaking the previous game very well by holding on 15 for 6-5. The pressure is now back on his opponent, Jabeur was surprised, he did 5/6 first serves to compel the violator.
Jabeur called the physio before the first point of the tiebreak. He led from Tunisia 2-1 and reached a set point at 6-5 after drawing another error from Gauff. The American reached the set point 7-6 but Jabeur hit a cross-court backhand volley to level.
He arrived where he was appointed 8-7 but Gauff equalized with a stunning inside-in-backhand winner. Jabeur reached his third point 9-8 but he was denied after several blows to the front of Gauff led to him making a mistake.
The American reached his eighth point 10-9 when Jabeur hit a backhand shot and converted following another backhand error from his opponent.
It was a rousing opening set, a master of what followed but unfortunately, Jabeur was forced by illness to concede 1 ¼ hour match. Gauff finished with two aces, zero double faults, and a save 2/2 break points, and won 86First % once 64% of points for second offer.
Although he has not advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, he has impressive talent 18-8 face win/loss record. Gauff’s front end with extreme grip and backlash is causing a lot of problems on the grass so he will need to make some adjustments to secure his first title up top.
She will battle fellow American and frequent doubles partner Jessica Pegula in the semis. While Pegula the world #5 he leads head to head 3-1Gauff won back-to-back in their only match on grass last season at the Eastbourne quarters.
