No.3 seed Coco Gauff extended her winning streak to 16 in the China Open quarterfinals, defeating No.6 seed Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-4 and setting up a marquee semifinal showdown with No.2 seed Iga Swiatek.

Streak stats: US Open champion Gauff's 16-match winning streak is the longest by any player on the Hologic WTA Tour this season. It is also the longest by a teenager since Bianca Andreescu won 17 in a row between Roland Garros and Beijing in 2019, and longest by an American teenager since Serena Williams compiled two separate 16-match streaks in 1999.

Gauff is the fifth teenager this century to win 16 or more consecutive tour-level matches, following Kim Clijsters (17 straight between Luxembourg 2002 and the Australian Open 2003), Nicole Vaidisova (18 straight between Seoul and Philadelphia 2005), Maria Sharapova (19 straight between the US Open and WTA Finals 2006) and Andreescu.

China Open: Scores | Schedule | Draws

Gauff leveling up against fellow top players: The 19-year-old American advances to her seventh semifinal of 2023, and fourth at WTA 1000 level or above. Since Eastbourne, Gauff has won seven of her eight matches against Top 10 opposition; prior to the grass swing, she had lost seven straight against Top 10 players.

Swiatek reels in Garcia

Gauff will face four-time major champion Swiatek for the ninth time on Saturday. Having failed to win a set from the Pole in their first seven meetings, Gauff ignited the rivalry with a 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4 win the Cincinnati semifinals in August.

Sakkari out of WTA Finals contention: The Greek player can no longer qualify directly for the WTA Finals Cancun. Currently No.9 in the Race, Sakkari had been making a late charge to snatch one of the last available spots, claiming her first WTA 1000 title in Guadalajara two weeks ago. A semifinal run here would have kept the 28-year-old's chances alive, but she can only now compete in Cancun if a player ahead of her withdraws or as an alternate.

How Gauff defeated Sakkari: The result was Gauff's second straight-sets defeat of Sakkari this year, having also beaten her 6-2, 6-3 in the Washington final. Prior to 2023, Gauff had lost four of her five encounters with Sakkari.

The key factors this time round were the strength of Gauff's serve, particularly her second delivery, and Sakkari's inability to find a way through her defense. Gauff landed 65% of her first serves and dropped only five points behind it, but her second -- on which she conceded just six points -- was almost as effective, and she did not have to face a break point in the entire match. By contrast, Sakkari won 70% of the points behind her first serve, but only 40% behind her second.

Once in the rallies, Sakkari only rarely found a way to get the ball past Gauff. In a one-sided first set, she tallied 14 unforced errors to five winners; though she played with more patience in the second, her ratio was still in the negative with 12 unforced errors to 10 winners. Meanwhile, Gauff played a watertight match, striking 16 winners to 15 unforced errors overall.

In Gauff's words: "It was definitely as comfortable as it looked, honestly. She's a tough player. I think she came out with some great shots. But honestly, when I stepped on the court, some days you just feel like no matter what's going to happen, you're going to win. It's nothing to do with the opponent. It's just like how you're feeling. That's how I felt when I stepped on court today. 

"There were shots that I was making -- not that I was surprised I was making them, but probably as consistently. I think today was just one of those days where I felt comfortable. It has nothing to do with how Maria played. I think honestly when I woke up today, I just felt good. It's a rare feeling as an athlete. I had this feeling last year in San Jose when I played [Anhelina] Kalinina. It felt similar to that today."