Arabic version: بيليك تبلغ نصف نهائي سينسيناتي لمواجهة غوف

According to BBC News, Czech player Sara Bejlek will face fourth seed Coco Gauff in the Cincinnati Open semi-finals after continuing her unexpected run at the WTA 1000 tournament. The unseeded 20-year-old defeated American Madison Keys 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in the quarter-finals, earning her first WTA 1000 semi-final appearance.

Bejlek has beaten three major champions on her way to the last four. Her victories include world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round and Barbora Krejcikova earlier in the tournament. Ranked world number 35, Bejlek is pursuing her second WTA title after winning the Abu Dhabi Open in February as a qualifier.

Against Keys, Bejlek recovered after losing the opening set and falling 3-1 behind in the second. She won five of the next six games to level the match, then came back from 4-2 down in the deciding tie-break. The contest lasted two hours and 37 minutes. Bejlek said a big talk with her team a couple of weeks earlier had helped her believe in herself and improve physically on court.

Gauff reached her third consecutive semi-final by beating Ukraine’s 10th seed Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-2. She had previously lost in the last four at Wimbledon and the Canadian Open earlier this month. Gauff said she has been going to the net more after recognising the value of that tactic at Wimbledon, where she won many points that way. The US Open, the year’s final Grand Slam, begins in New York on 30 August.