Things looked dicey at the very beginning for Gauff on Saturday, as she had to rally from triple break point down—and save a fourth break point at ad-out—just to hold serve in the opening game of the match.
But once she got past that she settled in, opening up a 4-1 lead—to which Swiatek retaliated, getting the break back and evening it at 4-all.
That’s when Gauff caught fire, though, reeling off seven straight games to build a 6-4, 5-0 lead, and after Swiatek held and got one of the breaks back to close to 5-2, Gauff broke her right back to seal the win.
“I didn’t let the opportunities that I had the first two times I had match point get away from me,” Gauff said about closing it out.
“She played well—maybe there was one error on the backhand, but other than that she played the better tennis at the end. But I knew how I was playing the whole match that I would get it done.”
That victory also kept Team USA in contention in the semifinal clash, after Hubert Hurkacz’s earlier 7-6 (1), 7-6 (2) victory over Taylor Fritz.
It all came down to the mixed doubles, with Gauff coming back on court with Christian Harrison to face Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa.
