Coco Gauff spent barely more than an hour looking completely in control against Marta Kostyuk. It took the Cincinnati crowd only a few seconds to make her lose her composure. Not because of anything negative. Quite the opposite.
After cruising past Kostyuk 6-2, 6-2 in just 68 minutes to reach the Cincinnati Open semifinals, Gauff was asked during her on-court interview what made playing in front of the American crowd special. That’s when she remembered something she had been hearing from the stands.
“I don’t know who was saying ‘I’m in love with Coco,’ but I like that one. That was a good one,” Gauff said before adding with a smile: “And it’s the right Coco!” The response was immediate.
Fans erupted around the court, and suddenly the player who had handled almost everything Kostyuk threw at her didn’t quite know what to do with all the attention. Gauff smiled, brought her hands toward her face and appeared to blush while the crowd continued cheering.
Coco Gauff gave Cincinnati plenty to celebrate
The American broke Kostyuk six times and won 62 of the match’s 103 total points. Gauff won 78% of the points behind her first serve and committed only three double faults, while Kostyuk struggled with eight double faults and 38 unforced errors.
The 6-2, 6-2 victory also sent Gauff into her fifth WTA 1000 semifinal of the 2026 season and kept alive her chance of winning Cincinnati for a second time after her breakthrough title there in 2023. She will face Czech surprise Sara Bejlek for a place in the final.
Her run has become increasingly convincing. After needing three sets to get past Liudmila Samsonova in her opening match, Gauff defeated Ann Li, Marie Bouzkova and now Kostyuk on her way to the final four. Against Bouzkova she won 6-3, 6-2 before producing an even more dominant performance in the quarterfinals.
Gauff will now face 20-year-old Czech Sara Bejlek in the semifinals, in what will be the first career meeting between the two. Bejlek has been one of Cincinnati’s biggest surprises, knocking out world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets before coming from behind to defeat former US Open champion Madison Keys 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in the quarterfinals.
The unseeded World No. 35 is playing the first WTA 1000 semifinal of her career, while Gauff is chasing a second Cincinnati title after winning the tournament in 2023.
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