Coco Gauff sweeps aside Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets to book US Open semi-final spot

Coco Gauff is into the semi-finals of the US Open after a comprehensive 6-0 6-2 win over Jelena Ostapenko.

The American is into the final four of her home tournament for the first time following her straight-sets win over her Latvian opponent.

Gauff and Ostapenko were playing for the chance to reach the semi-finals, with the Latvian world No. 20 already further in the tournament than she had been in her entire career.

The 26-year-old also reached the quarter-finals in the Australian Open earlier in the season, where she had beaten Gauff en route, and had reached the last eight here with a surprising but well earned win over No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

Gauff, meanwhile, was looking to go one further – at least than she had managed in 2022 in New York when she was eliminated in the quarters, and she started in ruthless form.

After winning five consecutive games in her victory against Caroline Wozniacki, she raced into a 5-0 advantage, and needed just 20 minutes to clear the first hurdle, courtesy of some rasping aces.

The match was so one-sided that at 4-0, Ostapenko had won just three points, and in the first three games she gave up 10 unforced errors.

Ostapenko finally notched a game in the opening stages of the second set as the looked to stay in the match as the pair broke one another in the first two games, only to see Gauff to go 2-1 up with her fifth converted break point of the match so far, as the Latvian offered up a weak second serve with the pressure on.

Serving to go 3-1 clear, Ostapenko stepped closer to the net and her trademark powerful forward gave her the chance of breaking back, before a poor return on her return cost her, allowing Gauff to close out.

A strong serve in the next game and some attacking play allowed Ostapenko to hold her first serve of the match so far.

A chance for parity in the set came and went in the next game as Gauff saved break point for 4-2, before breaking immediately once more allowing her to serve for the match.

What followed was one of the best rallies – and shots – of the match as Gauff sealed victory to send a winner down a challenging angle to set up a semi-final against the winner of Sorana Cirstea v Karolina Muchova.

Discussing her strategy and recent improvement, Gauff said on-court after her win: “There’s a saying in basketball that defence wins games.

“It’s important to have both ends of the court. The defence has always been there but I’ve improved my offence. I think it’s translating on court”

Now into the last four, Gauff added: “It feels great. I’m so happy. Last year I lost at the quarter-final stage; I wanted to do better this year.

“I still have a long way to go, but I’m happy and I’m ready to get back to work for the next one! Honestly, I didn’t feel comfortable at all, the whole match – even when up the match points.

“I know the game she plays; she has the ability to come back, no matter the scoreline.

“I was just trying to play every ball, trying my best to be as aggressive as I could. She is a tough player, she had a great tournament.”