She was the form player of the North American summer, and Coco Gauff has carried her momentum into the US Open.
The world No.6 won her 10th consecutive match after overwhelming Jelena Ostapenko 6-0 6-2 in Tuesday’s first quarterfinal.
Gauff admitted she was shocked to learn Iga Swiatek had lost, having subconsciously prepared for a clash against the world No.1 after all the chatter around their projected quarterfinal meeting.
But Ostapenko’s progression offered Gauff an opportunity to avenge her Australian Open 2023 loss to the Latvian – which she did, in just 68 minutes.
Her win makes her the first American teenager, since idol Serena Williams in 2001, to reach the last four in New York.
“Oh, it means a lot to me. I mean, being in any sentence with her is great,” said the 19-year-old, also the youngest American woman into the US Open semis since Williams in 1999.
“She's the greatest player of all time. I'm nothing close to that yet. I'm just really honoured to be in the same sentence as her.
“I feel like a lot of the stats have aligned with her… I never take it for granted. I think if you told me when I was younger that I would be in these same stat lines as her, I would freak out.
“It is a cool moment to have that stat alongside her.”
After reaching last year’s Roland Garros final, Gauff is into a second major semifinal, where she will face this year’s Roland Garros finalist Karolina Muchova.
ANALYSIS: Is Karolina Muchova the new Ash Barty?
Here comes another Serena-related stat: Gauff is the youngest American woman to appear in two major semifinals since Williams at the 1999 US Open and Wimbledon in 2000.
Williams was one of the form players leading into that 1999 US Open, winning the WTA Los Angeles title after beating top-10 players Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Martina Hingis along the way.
With her quarterfinal win over Monica Seles at Flushing Meadows, Williams extended her winning streak to 10 matches. It became 12 when she repeated her win over Hingis in the final – a result earning her a first Grand Slam singles title.
MORE: "Queenwen" Zheng upsets Jabeur, reaches first major quarterfinal
Just like Williams, Gauff had built a 10-match winning streak after winning her quarterfinal. She also arrived in New York fresh off a title; her triumph came in Cincinnati, the biggest trophy of her career to date.
Notably, Gauff beat Muchova in that Cincinnati final, the pair's only previous meeting ahead of the US Open semifinals.
Gauff also won the Washington D.C. title and reached the Montreal quarters, earning more ranking points than any player during the summer hard-court swing.
She has won 16 of her past 17 matches since a first-round loss at Wimbledon.
And she’s feeling great, citing her decision-making and confidence in her strokes as highlights in a dominant performance against Ostapenko.
“Today was the best match I've played, for sure,” Gauff said of her US Open campaign, which also included a fourth-round win over comeback star Caroline Wozniacki.
MORE: Gauff v Wozniacki in dream US Open showdown
“I think what's helping is playing from D.C. to Montreal to Cincinnati, that was a long type of swing. So I think doing well in those tournaments built my mental endurance. Always had the physical endurance.
“Right now I feel emotionally fresh, which I think was the problem in the past in Grand Slams, I would emotionally be drained.
“Obviously I'm physically and emotionally fresh, and I think that just came from experience.”