BEIJING (AP) — Sixth-seeded Coco Gauff once again got off to a slow start and had to rally to beat Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 and reach the semifinals of the to reach the China Open.

Gauff next faces Spain’s Paula Badosa, who ended the unexpected title win of Zhang Shuai, a wildcard player.

The 115th-ranked Yuliia Starodubtseva – who will crack the top 100 for the first time on Monday – had not lost a set in her three matches this week and quickly took the lead, making 10 winners and keeping Gauff at zero seeded through an error in the first set for the American.

Gauff also lost the first set against Naomi Osaka in the preliminary round before Osaka withdrew due to a lower back injury.

Starodubtseva last month became the first woman in the Open era to qualify for all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year and before US Open champion Gauff found an answer against them.

Gauff saved two break points in her first service game of the second set. A break of serve gave her a 3-1 lead. After coming close again on her next service game, Gauff only lost three games for the remainder of the quarterfinals.

“I can’t control how I play or how she plays, but I can just try to control my mindset and commit to the process,” Gauff said.

Zhang’s drought-free week came to a shocking end as Badosa continued their own resurgence with a 6-1, 7-6 (4) win in the quarterfinals.

The Spaniard has won 28 of her last 35 games since May and reached the semi-finals in three of her last five tournaments. There was also a run to the quarterfinals of the US Open last month.

But the story of the week was the 35-year-old Zhang, who entered the China Open on a 24-match losing streak – the second-longest in the Open era – and was ranked 595th. She didn’t lose a set in four previous matches this week.

However, the Chinese wildcard had no answer to Badosa’s fast start as the Spaniard made three service breaks and confidently took the first set.

Things got much closer in the second set as Badosa trailed 1-3. She collected everything and beat Zhang in the tiebreak.

Shanghai Masters

Italy’s Matteo Berrettini bounced back from the disappointment of an injury that ended his Japan Open last week by beating Christopher O’Connell 7-6, (9), 7-6 (6) in the first round in Shanghai. prevailed.

The Italian, who retired in the second round in Tokyo last Friday with an abdominal injury, was put to a stern test of his fitness by the Australian in a lung-busting battle that lasted two hours and 13 minutes.

Next up for the former Wimbledon finalist is 14th ranked Holger Rune.

Other first round winners included Marcos Giron, David Goffin, Jaume Munar, Zhou Yi, Jakub Mensik and Miomir Kecmanovic.

The 32 seeds received a bye in the first round, including leader Jannik Sinner and runner-up Carlos Alcaraz won the China Open against the Italian on Wednesday. Sinner starts against Taro Daniel from Japan and Alcaraz meets Shang Juncheng from China.

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AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis