Coco Gauff was advised to skip the Miami Open due to injury, but her decision to veto her team has paid off as she has reached the semi-final of the WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career and is now on the verge of returning to No 3 in the rankings.
The reigning French Open champion sustained an arm injury during the Indian Wells Open and was forced to retire midway through her third-round match against Alex Eala.
Although an MRI scan cleared her of any serious injury, she revealed “most of my team didn’t even want me to play this tournament, but I just kind of vetoed that” as it is the Florida-born Gauff’s home event.
And now she finds herself in the last four after coming through another tough encounter as she beat 12th seed Belinda Bencic 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. The American also needed two sets to see off Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Alycia Parks and Sorana Cirstea.
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“I honestly didn’t think I would be in the semis so I’m really happy and proud of myself,” the fourth-seeded Gauff – who had failed to make it past the fourth round of the Miami Open before this year – said.
“I think I proved a lot to myself this week, and I feel like with each match, I’m getting better. Even though I’m still playing three sets, I feel like the level is getting better and better.”
Possible Rankings Boost
Gauff started the tournament at No 4 in the WTA Rankings behind Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek, but the latter’s shock second-round defeat has opened the way for a possible return to No 3.
The American dropped 120 points at the start of the tournament after losing in the fourth round last year, but she is now guaranteed to earn 390 points for reaching the semi-final, which puts her on 7,018 in the Live Rankings.
With Swiatek on 7,263 and unable to add to her total, Gauff will move ahead of the Pole if she wins her last-four match against Karolina Muchova – who beat Victoria Mboko in straight sets – as she will be on 7,278 points.
The American has a 5-0 head-to-head record against the 13th-seeded Czech, but she knows the past counts for nothing.
“You don’t think about the head-to-head,” the two-time Grand Slam winner said.
“There’s so many matches that we play that could go either way. I don’t really think about it – especially when I play here, because I know how good she is.”