Gauff battles Muchova, Sabalenka faces Keys in US Open semifinals on TSN
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The women's semifinals at the US Open take place on Thursday night with No. 6 Coco Gauff taking on Roland-Garros finalist Karolina Muchova, followed by soon-to-be world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka playing 17th seed Madison Keys.
Watch coverage of both matches LIVE on TSN5, TSN.ca and the TSN App starting at 7pm et/4pm pt.
Gauff, 19, reached her first US Open semifinal on Tuesday after beating Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 6-2. She became the first American teenager to reach the US Open semis since Serena Williams in 2001.
“Even though [by] the semifinals, [in] theory, if you want to win, there’s two matches left, you can’t think like that,” Gauff said. “I’m still in the mindset that I’m in the beginning of the tournament. That's what I have learned in the past [from] being in quarterfinals: Before, I would think, ‘Close to the end.’ But right now, I have the mentality that I told myself, ‘I still have another two weeks to play.’ So that’s where my mind is at. Then, obviously when it’s over, it’s over. But right now, I’m just saying, ‘Another two weeks.'"
Gauff previously reached a Grand Slam final at last year's Roland-Garros, where she lost to then No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
The 10th ranked Muchova reached the semis with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Sorana Cirstea on Tuesday.
Sabalenka will take the No. 1 rank from Swiatek at the conclusion of the tournament, following the latter's fourth-round loss to Ostapenko. The 25-year-old has now reached the semis at five consecutive Grand Slams after defeating Zheng Qinwen 6-1, 6-4 in the quarter-final. The Belarus native looks to win her second major title after winning the Australian Open in January.
She will meet 2017 US Open finalist Madison Keys, who reached the semis after defeating reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondroušová 6-1, 6-4.
Sabalenka and Keys most recently faced off at Wimbledon, where Sabalenka won 6-2, 6-4.
“It's going to be a lot of hard hitting, not a lot of long points,” said Keys. “Just going to try to buckle up and get as many balls back as I can.”