Auckland Classic: 'Insane' Coco Gauff Powers into Semi-finals Against Emma Navarro

Coco 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.

With rain clouds gathering, Gauff was in the mood for a swift victory over her French opponent and achieved it in 52 minutes in another ominous display ahead of the Australian Open.

The world number three and US Open champion clinched the title in Auckland last year without dropping a set and is on track to repeat that feat.

The 19-year-old was particularly happy with her serving, conceding just 11 points against eighth seed Gracheva off her serve and not giving up a single break point.

“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.

Gauff will play fellow American Emma Navarro in the semifinals. The fourth-seeded Navarro beat Petra Martic of France 6-4, 4-3.

Navarro lost to Martic 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 when the pair met in Cincinnati in August. She turned the tables Friday with an authoritative display, putting 80% of first serves in play and attacking Martic, particularly on her second serve.

“Tennis always keeps us on our toes so you’ve got to be ready for things like rain delays,” Navarro said. I was happy with my performance today, played my most comfortable tennis out here.”

Navarro rushed to a 4-0 lead in the second set before Martic claimed a service break and the match went with serve until Navarro took the match on her third match point.

In the two other quarter-finals later on Friday, Ukrainian second seed Elena Svitolina faces fifth seed Marie Bouzkova while Wang Xiyu plays Diane Parry in a clash of two unseeded players.

(With inputs from Agencies)