Gauff, Svitolina power into Auckland semi-finals
Hindustan TimesCoco Gauff continued the ruthless defence of her Auckland Classic title on Friday with a 6-1, 6-1 trouncing of Varvara Gracheva to set up a semi-final against fellow American Emma Navarro. Coco Gauff of the United States reacts during her quarterfinal match against Varvara Gracheva from France at the ASB Tennis Classic in Auckland Ukraine's Elina Svitolina later dispatched Marie Bouzkova 6-0, 6-3 to ensure the tournament's two top seeds advanced on a day in which rain played havoc with the four quarter-finals. "I thought I served really well, probably the best so far at this tournament, which is something I was really working on in the off-season," the top seed Gauff said. Second seed Svitolina's match finished at close to 11pm local time and the 17-time WTA singles title winner was pleased to make short work of fifth-seeded Czech Bouzkova in cold conditions.