Coco Gauff blazed right into a semifinal of the U.S. Open for the primary time behind one of many best wins of her profession. Gauff, the No. 6 seed, required solely 68 minutes on Tuesday afternoon to dismiss No. 20 Jelena Ostapenko from the event, 6-0, 6-2, and change into the primary American teenager since Serena Williams in 2001 to achieve the ultimate 4.

Williams was additionally 19 that yr, and went on to achieve the ultimate, the place she misplaced to Venus Williams, her sister. But Serena Williams ultimately gained 23 main singles titles and staked a declare as the very best participant in tennis historical past. Gauff, with years forward of her, is on the lookout for her first Grand Slam singles title.

“She’s my idol,” Gauff stated of Serena Williams, “and I think if you told me when I was younger that I would be in these same stat lines as her I would freak out. I’m still trying not to think about it a lot because I don’t want to get my head big or add pressure, but it is a cool moment to have that stat alongside her.”

In her semifinal, Gauff will play both No. 30 Sorana Cirstea or No. 10 Karolina Muchova, whose match was scheduled for Tuesday night time. Gauff has confronted these gamers as soon as every and gained each matches, serving to to make her highway to the ultimate, and maybe her first Grand Slam event title, probably very easy. She has already prevented a potential quarterfinal match with top-seeded Iga Swiatek as a result of Ostapenko upset her in a late match Sunday night time.

But when Ostapenko returned to the court docket at midday on Tuesday, with the temperature on the court docket in Arthur Ashe Stadium above 90 levels, she was no match for Gauff. Attempting to hit aggressive winners from the start, Ostapenko made 36 unforced errors as Gauff performed a affected person, mature sport and turned her consideration to the following spherical.

“I feel so fresh, to be honest,” Gauff stated. “I’m really proud of how I’ve been able to get through these matches.”