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Indian Wells 2024: Paul, Gauff advance to singles SFs

Arthur Kapetanakis | March 14, 2024

A pair of first-time Indian Wells semifinalists will represent the United States this weekend on home soil at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open. Tommy Paul beat Casper Ruud in Thursday's quarterfinals to continue his bid for his third and biggest ATP Tour title, while Coco Gauff defeated Yuan Yue to stay on track for her second WTA 1000 crown.

 

The third-seeded Gauff will meet Maria Sakkari on Friday night, while Paul faces fourth seed Daniil Medvedev on Saturday.

Paul continues American SF streak

Paul's 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 win extended a streak of American men's singles semifinalists to four years in Indian Wells. Taylor Fritz reached that stage in 2020 and 2021 (when he won the title), before Frances Tiafoe continued the trend last year.

 

"That's awesome. I'm pumped about that," Paul said upon hearing that stat. "I kind of knew but I didn't know I had to win today to keep that streak alive. That's awesome.

 

"Pumped for the U.S. fans that we have produced some pretty good results here... I want to keep winning and keep going."

 

The American dominated the opening set against Ruud with a quick 4-0 start and ultimately won the final two games of the match after Ruud broke to get back on serve at 4-3 in the third. He saved two break points before serving out the victory on his second match point.

Tommy Paul advances to his second ATP Masters 1000 semifinal.

The 26-year-old Paul is no stranger to deep runs at the biggest tour-level events, having reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and the Toronto Masters last season. Before he bids to take the next step by reaching the Indian Wells final, he described how his game has evolved since then.

 

"I think that I've played really well at different times in the past couple years," he reflected. "It's different, I think. I think I'm playing a different style of tennis... In Australia or in Toronto, I was probably playing a little bit better from the baseline, to be honest.

 

"But I think I'm serving better right now. I think I'm seeing the court a little bit better, maybe attacking, and using the whole court better. I don't know. It's different, but I think I'm playing smarter, better tennis."

Coco Gauff will meet Maria Sakkari in Friday's semifinals.
Gauff extends dominant run

After dropping the opening set of her Indian Wells campaign, Gauff has now won eight consecutive sets to reach her fourth WTA 1000 semifinal in the past 13 months. In her 6-4, 6-3 win against China's Yuan, she overcame 17 double faults by hitting seven aces and saving seven of 10 break points.

 

Three of those break point saves came with Gauff trailing 3-1 in the second set, sparking a run of five games to close out the victory.

 

"I'm really happy to be through today's match," said Gauff, who turned 20 on Wednesday. "It wasn't the best style of the serving, but overall I think when it comes to the groundstroke game and returns, everything else, honestly, I played well. I just try and take the positives into the next match."

 

That next match will be on Friday evening against eighth seed Maria Sakkari. While Gauff trails the Greek 4-3 in their head-to-head, the American won their past two meetings last season in Washington, D.C., and Beijing.

"Maria I've played a couple times now," Gauff said. "I think every time playing her, she's a tough opponent, she's very athletic and explosive. She doesn't give you much. She'll take advantage.

 

"I've lost to her before and I've won before. It will be a tough match."

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