BEIJING -- World No.6 Coco Gauff came from a set and a break down to defeat No.19 Paula Badosa in the China Open semifinals on Saturday. The 20-year-old American trailed 6-4, 4-2 before coming back to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 and advance to Sunday's final. 

Beijing: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

Bidding to capture her second career WTA 1000 title and eighth overall, Gauff will face either No.5 seed Zheng Qinwen or US Open semifinalist Karolina Muchova in the final. The American is an impressive 7-1 in Hologic WTA Tour finals.

Gauff's win over Badosa is her 20th WTA 1000 victory of the year, the most she has won in a single season. She is the fifth player to manage a 20-plus win season at the WTA 1000s before turning 21, joining Victoria Azarenka (20 in 2009), Agnieszka Radwanska (20 in 2009), Caroline Wozniacki (27 in 2010) and Iga Swiatek (22 in 2022).

Gauff entered the week at No.6 on the PIF WTA Race to the WTA Finals behind Jessica Pegula and ahead of Emma Navarro. Her run to her second Hologic WTA Tour final of the season has bolstered her chances of qualifying for the WTA Finals Riyadh for a third straight year. 

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Match notes: A semifinalist in Beijing last year, Gauff is the youngest player to reach consecutive Beijing semifinals since Maria Sharapova in 2004 and 2005. She is playing her first tournament after adding Matt Daly to her coaching team alongside long-time coach Jean-Christophe Faurel.

For the second match this season, Gauff came back from a set down to upend Badosa in three sets. Saturday's showdown was a rematch of their Round of 16 encounter in Rome, which Gauff won 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. She has now leveled their head-to-head at 3-3. 

How the match was won: Badosa sealed the 59-minute opening set by bouncing back from being broken in a 10-deuce, 26-point service game. Serving with a break advantage at 4-3, Badosa gamely saved seven break points before Gauff finally broke through to level the set. 

But the Spaniard responded immediately in the next game, breaking Gauff at 15 to regain her foothold and serving out the set. 

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Turning point: Badosa quickly built a 3-1 lead in the second set before Gauff found a way back. In a pivotal game, Gauff saved four break points to hold to 3-2 and then surged to the finish, breaking Badosa to level at 4-4. Having shifted the momentum back on her side, Gauff held quickly and then broke again to force a third set. 

"I feel like I was playing the right way the whole time, other than maybe a lot of double-faults," Gauff said. "But other than that, I was playing the right way. Just missing sometimes. She was playing a very high level.

"I was just trying to get on the scoreboard and keep trying to get points on the scoreboard. They turned into games. I was trying to stay in the moment."

In total, Gauff reeled off six consecutive games before Badosa snapped her streak at 2-1 in the third set. Badosa broke to level at 2-2, but was unable to hold off Gauff in the next game. Under pressure, Badosa nearly dug out of a 0-40 game, but Gauff seized the break on her fourth chance to lead 4-1 and protected her lead to the finish.

Final Stats: Gauff's aggressive intention was rewarded against Badosa. She finished with 38 winners to 39 unforced errors, 11 of which came on double faults. Gauff generated a total of 20 break point chances, breaking six times. She held Badosa to 24 winners.