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Gauff's last defeat was in the quarter-finals
in Montreal following her Washington triumph and the 19-year-old
has been an unstoppable force ever since, winning the Cincinnati
title and her maiden Grand Slam crown at her home U.S. Open.
The world number three outclassed Ekaterina Alexandrova in her
Beijing opener and battled past Petra Martic.
She produced a determined display in the first set against
Kudermetova to lay the platform for a second career win over the
Tokyo champion.
"I'm really happy with how I've been able to manage. I had
trouble finding the way I wanted to play in these conditions. I
felt like the balls were flying in the first match and playing
passive in the second," Gauff said.
"I'm really happy with how I've been able to troubleshoot and
problem-solve. Today I played a good match overall."
Gauff next meets sixth seed Maria Sakkari in what would be a
rematch of their title clash in Washington.
Sakkari got past local favourite Wang Xinyu 6-4 2-6 6-3.
"I think she's probably one of the most athletic players on tour
so it's going to be tough," Gauff said.
Earlier, former champion Caroline Garcia sealed a 6-3 6-2
victory over Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina to book a quarter-final
clash with second seed Iga Swiatek.
Frenchwoman Garcia, who is ranked 10th in the world but a
further 10 places back in the race to qualify for the
season-ending WTA Finals which she won in 2022, has enjoyed a
steady run of form in the last few weeks.
Garcia reached the quarter-finals in San Diego and Tokyo with a
Guadalajara semi-final appearance in between.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka later overcame a spirited
Jasmine Paolini 6-4 7-6(4) to set up a blockbuster meeting with
former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka has a 4-1 record against the Kazakh, most notably
defeating her in the Australian Open final, before losing their
latest meeting in the Indian Wells title clash.
"I'll go out there tomorrow and do my best to get this win,"
Sabalenka said.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in BengaluruEditing by Toby
Davis)
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