Atlanta native Coco Gauff advances to US Open women’s singles final

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Atlanta native Coco Gauff has advanced to her first US Open women’s singles final.

The 19-year-old beat French Open finalist Karolína Muchová in the semifinals. She will face the winner of the semifinal match between fellow American Madison Keys and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Gauff had a rough road to the semis, beating former US Open champion Laura Siegemund, Mirra Andreeva, Elise Mertens, former world No. 1 and US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki and former French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko on her way to the semifinals.

Gauff looked like she would dominate the first set, going up 5-1 before unforced errors from Gauff’s forehand allowed Muchová to come back to make it 5-4. Gauff settled down and took the first set 6-4.

Climate change protestors forced play to be suspended midway through the second set; protesters chanted “end fossil fuels” and stopped play for more than 40 minutes.

Both women pushed through the stoppage for a much closer back-and-forth second set. Muchová handled first-serve points well, winning as many as 75% of them in the second set, compared to just 5-for-15 in the first set. Muchová went on a roll late in the second set, winning six of seven points to tie the set 5-5.

Gauff got ahead of Muchová multiple points in the second set but could never quite get a comfortable lead before winning the second set 7-5.

The women’s singles final is Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern.