Coco Gauff of the USA serves in her match against Varvara Gracheva of France. Photo: Phil Walter
The cream of the crop has risen to the top at Stanley Street. Defending champ Coco Gauff continued her run towards a second consecutive ASB Classic title with another dominant display, crushing France's Varvara Gracheva 6-1 6-1, while second seed Elina Svitolina demolished Czech Marie Bouzková 6-0 6-3.
The only hinderance Gauff had to deal with during the match was a short rain delay, making it three matches straight that the 19-year-old has won in straight sets. The scary prospect is that Gauff can probably go up another gear again, although post-match she said that she was content with the way she was playing.
"I think I just played good today," she said.
"The previous two matches I played well. I'm not going to sit here and say it's easy at a professional level, it's not, but today I had a good day."
The only issue is the feeling that Gauff might take a while to find those gears once she has to play someone who actually shows up, but the way she effortlessly dispatched Gracheva it's hard to know if that would even be a factor.
She broke the eighth seed in Gracheva's first service game, then again and again as if to prove it was no fluke. By that stage it was clear that it was just a matter of time before Gauff would wrap it up, so the real contest now between her and the approaching rainclouds rolling in from the south.
"I felt like it was going to rain again, but that didn't control the way I played. It is in the back of your mind, but it can't change how fast the match goes."
But while she wasn't planning on it, it ended up being a carbon copy of last year's final. In that match Gauff beat Rebeka Masarova by exactly the same score just as the heavens opened, this time the first drops of rain began to fall just as Gracheva sent the ball long on match point.
"I feel like I know what level I can bring," she said when asked about the differences between this year and last year.
"I'm making better decisions on court. I'm having fun, not putting too much pressure on myself…sometimes you can put yourself under pressure like you need to win, I always had that mentality…but you have to find the balance."
Earlier, fellow American Emma Navarro claimed a 6-4 6-3 win over Petra Martić. The eighth seeded Navarro was in control for the whole time, and while she claims she has enjoyed flying under the radar compared to the high-profile Gauff, that won't be lasting for much longer as both will now face each other in the semi-final.
Unfortunately, the rain didn't want to wait for the end of the third quarter final, between Diane Parry and Wang Ziyu. Both players and the sizable crowd had to sit out a long delay after the first set, before they returned and fought out a long, drawn-out battle that saw Wang prevail 6-7 6-3 6-4.
Elina Svitolina of Ukraine celebrates a point in her match against Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic. Photo: Phil Walter
The first set alone took 84 minutes without the rain delay, so by the time Svitolina and Bouzková's match got underway it was almost 10pm. But Svitolina was keen to make up for lost time, putting on an absolute clinic to hand Bouzková a first set bagel and finish the match in just over an hour - a perfect time for the then well-lubricated crowd to file out and continue the merriment.
So, the stage is set for today's semi-finals, while at the same time the men's qualifying gets underway on the outer courts. It's fair to say that Navarro and Wang go in as hefty underdogs, if either of them can even take a set off Gauff or Svitolina it will be a surprise.
