Swiss Jil Teichmann and American teen Coco Gauff are into the final four of the Adelaide International after surviving tough quarterfinal encounters.
Teichmann clawed her way to a marathon victory over Latvian veteran Anastasija Sevastova, winning 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-5, and was later joined by Gauff, who also had a fighting battle with fellow American Shelby Rogers.
Recovering from a patchy start, the 16-year-old Gauff triumphed 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Teichmann had five match points in the second-set tiebreaker but was unable to close it out.
The 23-year-old was then forced to save two match points while trailing 5-4 in the third.
Teichmann levelled at 5-5 before breaking Sevastova’s serve and finally secured the rollercoaster victory on her seventh match point, taking just under three hours.
The world No. 61 led 6-3 in the tiebreak but she couldn’t shake her opponent, who squared it at 6-6.
The young Swiss had a further two chances, netting her fifth match point, while world No. 56 Sevastova made no mistake with her first opportunity to push the match to a deciding set.
Teichmann looked down and out early in the third, trailing 3-0, but she showed bravery to keep going for her shots, with her booming forehand doing most of the damage.
“It was a rollercoaster and what I felt was nerves,” Teichmann said.
“It was a very tense match, very long rallies every time and Anastasija is a tough player and you have to play every point and every game, doesn’t matter if you’re serving or returning.”