Former US Open champion Coco Gauff will face the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova in the final of the China Open on Sunday. Gauff fought back from a set down to beat Spain's Paula Badosa 4-6 6-4 6-2.

Badosa started strongly, taking the first set and braking in the first game of the second set, almost building a 4-1 lead, but Gauff saved four break points to hold.

Gauff never showed signs of giving up and Badosa could not win a single point as Gauff broke her in the last game.  In the third set, the 20-year-old broke twice to build a 4-1 lead, hitting two aces and ultimately sealed victory with another break.

"It was just a tough match... I just tried to stay focused. Mentally I tried to reset. I got down a couple of times but I tried to bounce back," Gauff said in her post-match interview.

"I had tough opponents the whole tournament. Happy to be in the final."

In the other semi-final, another Czech contestant broke Chinese hearts as Karolina Muchova defeated home favourite Zheng Qinwen 6-3 6-4.  The world number 49 needed an hour and 47 minutes of play to topple Zheng, the reigning Olympic gold medalist.

It is 28-year-old Muchova's second straight Top 10 win this week. She snapped No.1 seed Aryna Sabalenka’s 15-match winning streak in the quarterfinals.

"I'm just happy I was able to perform well against these big players and put up my game and that I could see that, yeah, I can face them, I can beat them," Muchova said after the match.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger