Coco Gauff grinds past Marta Kostyuk into Australian Open semis

Melbourne: Coco Gauff survived a rollercoaster 7-6(8-6), 6-7(3-7), 6-2 battle against Marta Kostyuk to sail through to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time in her career on Tuesday.

By defeating her Ukrainian foe, Gauff, is now two wins away from becoming the first player since Naomi Osaka to win the US Open-Australian Open double.

Despite struggling on serve and with her forehand, Gauff saved two set points as she clawed her way back from a 1-5 deficit in the opening set. The 19-year-old American served for the match a 5-3 in the second but was foiled as her determined opponent slammed a pair of backhand winners en route to recapturing the break.