Defending champion, Coco Gauff advanced to the China Open semi-finals for the third consecutive year on Thursday, October 2.
The world number three defeated Germany's Eva Leys with a score of 6-3 6-4 in a match that lasted an hour and 28 minutes.
Gauff showed major improvement in her serve with a high success rate of 79%, even though she has struggles with it earlier in the season.
After both players kept breaking each other's serve five times in a row, Gauff managed to take control of the game by breaking Leys and then holding her own serve to win the first set.
In the second set, the two-time Grand Slam champion played confidently and despite a few errors and double faults, still emerged victorious.
After winning the match, the 21-year-old expressed, "I'm happy with how I played - she's a tough opponent and she hit some incredible shots on the run but I tried my best to play aggressive and good tennis," as per BBC Sports.
"I think staying confident in my game [was important]. Not being too passive when I had the lead, I played one passive point in the last game but after that I played good tennis," Gauff added.
Gauff is aiming to make history by winning the China Open for a second year in a row.
She will next face either Amanda Anisimova or Jasmine Paolini in the final four.
