Coco Gauff of the United States returns a shot to Marketa Vondrousova, of the Czech Republic, throughout a ladies’s singles match on the WTA Finals tennis championships, in Cancun, Mexico, Friday, Nov. 3, 2023.| Photo Credit: AP

Coco Gauff overcame 17 double-faults and got here again after being a sport away from elimination on the WTA Finals, ultimately pulling out a 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3 victory over Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in a round-robin match to remain in rivalry for a semifinal berth.

"Mental toughness is the biggest thing I'm pleased with," Gauff stated on Friday.

"That was a tough match. She's not an easy player. Not easy conditions. And I stayed in there, every point, just fighting." Gauff, the 19-year-old from Florida who gained the U.S. Open in September, dropped 4 consecutive video games and 16 of 21 factors to go from main the opening set to dropping it and trailing 1-0 within the subsequent.

There was a 25-minute rain delay early within the second set; maybe that helped Gauff regroup a bit.

Still, Vondrousova managed to get in entrance and serve for the victory at 6-5 within the second. Gauff broke there to remain in it.

And after briefly trailing within the third set, too, Gauff grabbed 5 of the match's final six video games to enhance to 2-1 on the season-ending championship for the highest eight gamers in ladies's tennis.

Vondrousova went 0-3 and won't advance.

The third-seeded Gauff's hopes for attending to the occasion's semifinals for the primary time hinged on the results of Friday's final match: Iga Swiatek (2-0), who already was assured a berth within the ultimate 4, in opposition to Ons Jabeur (1-1).

"Every match, you want to win, but I knew that I needed to get (at least) a set — and hopefully a win — to even have the chance to move on," Gauff stated, "so I'm really happy I was able to buckle down and do my best to get through that." Earlier on Friday, No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka reached the semifinals for the second consecutive yr, holding on to beat Elena Rybakina 6-2 3-6 6-3 in a contest that was repeatedly interrupted by rain the evening earlier than.

Play was halted on Thursday evening with Rybakina about to attempt to drive a 3rd set by serving for the second at 5-3. When they resumed, she did simply that. But Sabalenka got here via within the decider — though not with out a little bit of rigidity within the final sport: She wanted to save lots of 5 break factors, after which required 4 match factors to finish it.

"Really tough conditions, and I'm super happy that I was able to get this win, no matter what," stated Sabalenka, who double-faulted 15 occasions.

This was a rematch of the Australian Open ultimate in January, additionally gained by Sabalenka.

Sabalenka went 2-1 in round-robin play and superior because the second-place finisher in her group. Jessica Pegula, who beat Maria Sakkari on Thursday to go 3-0, completed atop their group.

Rybakina was eradicated with the loss on Friday.

There had been a half-dozen rain delays throughout Thursday's stop-start-stop motion.

"Just so much ups and downs," stated Rybakina, who gained Wimbledon in 2022. AP SSC SSC