Gauff overcomes the setback and reaches the semifinals of the China Open

Coco Gauff is in the China Open semi-finals for the second year in a row after coming from behind to beat Yuliia Starodubtseva.

Fourth-seeded Gauff lost the first set of the quarterfinals on Thursday but fought back to beat the Ukrainian qualifier 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.

The American, ranked sixth in the world, has had a difficult year as he failed to reach a Grand Slam final at the Paris Olympics, losing in the third round.

Gauff, 20, will face 15th seed Paula Badosa in Saturday’s semi-final for a place in her first final since winning in Auckland in January.

Badosa reached the last four by defeating China’s Zhang Shuai in straight sets.

The Spaniard beat the wildcard 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) in an hour and 23 minutes, despite having to make up a 1-3 deficit in the second set.

Badosa was ranked 140th in the world at the start of the year but has moved up to 19th after 28 wins in 35 games since May.

The remaining quarterfinals take place on Friday, with top seed Aryna Sabalenka facing Karolina Muchova and Mirra Andreeva taking on fifth seed Qinwen Zheng.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Billy Harris was eliminated in the opening round of the Shanghai Masters, losing 6-4, 6-4 to Italy’s Mattia Bellucci.