Badosa beats Coco Gauff to reach 4th semifinal of year

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Second-seeded Paula Badosa beat Coco Gauff 7-6(4), 6-2 at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic to reach her fourth semifinal of the year. Badosa won nine straight points, while Gauff struggled with her serve, and led 2-0 in the second set before easing to a 5-1 lead. Gauff had six double-faults in the first set, including the final two points. Badosa will play No. 7 seed Daria Kasatkina on Saturday. Kasatkina, a 2021 finalist, recovered to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 in two hours, 23 minutes. Sabalenka, who was affected by an injury late in the match, had 22 double-faults. The other semifinal will feature No. 9 seed Veronika Kudermetova against unseeded Shelby Rogers.