Gauff reaches maiden final

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AMERICAN teenage sensation Coco Gauff progressed to her maiden WTA final as she eased past Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-4 at the Linz Open on Saturday.

The 15-year-old Gauff became the youngest player to reach a WTA final since Czech Republic’s Nicole Vaidisova won the Tashkent Open in 2004, also aged 15.

Gauff only made it to the main draw of the event as a lucky loser but has made her opportunity count with a barnstorming run to Sunday’s final, where she will meet former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

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The American faced 10 break points but recovered well to fend off nine of them against Petkovic in the semi-final, before sealing victory on her second match point.

“This is crazy,” Gauff said. “I thought I was out in qualifying and now I’m here. “Linz is my special place.

“This was one of the highest-level matches I’ve played. Andrea hit a lot of winners and put pressure on me.

“I was fighting for every point, even at break points down, I just tried to get the serve in and make her play a point.”

Gauff’s popularity has soared since she became the youngest player to qualify for the Wimbledon main draw in the professional era and reached the fourth round in July, beating seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams along the way.

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