Azarenka outlasts Gauff, will face Pegula in Guadalajara semifinals

Former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka

View Profile outlasted No.5 seed Coco Gauff

View Profile in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open Akron on Friday, winning  7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3 to reach her first semifinal of the season. 

Entering Friday's quarterfinals, Azarenka was one of just two players left in the field (Sloane Stephens) to have won a WTA 1000 event, but she hadn't gotten this far at this caliber of event since finishing runner-up to Paula Badosa

View Profile at the 2021 BNP Paribas Open last fall.

Azarenka, 33, played her first WTA 1000 tournament at the 2006 Miami Open when Gauff, born in 2004, was 2 years old. The two-time Australian Open champion said their nearly 15-year age gap was on her mind entering the match. 

"I was just thinking, 'Coco's ...  the same age as my career,' so it felt pretty interesting," Azarenka said. "She's such a great athlete and I can't wait to see how far she'll go.

"It was a lot about the first ball, trying to serve smart, and trying to put a lot of pressure on return. She served really well, she was mixing a lot, so I was just trying to adjust when I had opportunities. I had quite a few and I couldn't convert them, so I tried to just stay consistent and look for another one, and not get down on myself."

All told, Azarenka was 0-2 in quarterfinals this year, but overcame the Roland Garros finalist in 2 hours and 44 minutes to advance to her 24th career semifinal at WTA 1000 level. She now boasts 181 career wins at this level of event, the second-most among active players.

Azarenka's first career meeting against Gauff was her 73rd career victory over a Top 10 player, and first this year over a player not named Paula Badosa

View Profile . To do it, she bounced back from deficits of 4-1 and 5-3 in the first set and scored the only break of serve for either player in the third set.

Both players broke serve five times in the match on a combined 23 break-point opportunities. Azarenka's five breaks were a credit to her own returning prowess. Gauff hit 10 aces and landed 75% of her first serves in defeat. 

Another American stands in the way of Azarenka's pursuit of a 16th career WTA 1000 final. She'll next face No.3 seed Jessica Pegula

View Profile , who knocked out the unseeded Stephens in just over an hour, 6-2, 6-2. The highest-ranked U.S. player is through to her fifth semifinal of the year and fourth at WTA 1000 level. 

Azarenka's won two of her three career meetings against Pegula, all of which came in 2021. That included a 6-4, 6-2 win in the Indian Wells quarterfinals last fall.