World number four Coco Gauff earned her 50th win of the year in WTA main draw matches as she beat Magda Linette 6-0 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Wuhan Open on Friday, potentially setting up a semi-final clash with top seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Former US Open champion Gauff, who has made some grip changes with new coach Matt Daly, made eight double faults in the match but was dominant with her returns.
I played well overall, maybe two bad games, 20-year-old Gauff said in the post-match interview after extending her winning streak to nine matches.
An error-prone Linette came close to breaking Gauff twice in the first set. But Gauff saved four break points to hold both games, winning 14 of 21 return points as the Polish former Australian Open semi-finalist fell to a bagel.
Gauff faced a tougher battle in the second set but one of Linettes 22 unforced errors gave the American an edge in the seventh game as she got the only break of the set, which sealed the win.