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Sabalenka blasts past Gauff to reach Indian Wells semi-finals
Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka overpowered US teenager Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-0 on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals of the WTA and ATP Masters 1000 at Indian Wells.
Sabalenka, in search of a third title this year after a victory at Adelaide and her first Grand Slam crown in Melbourne, needed just 64 minutes to subdue the young American star and set up a clash with either two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova or last year's Indian Wells runner-up, Maria Sakkari of Greece.
Sabalenka was in full command of her serve, and her thunderous ground strokes left Gauff with few options.
The Belarusian had five aces and a total of 18 winners. She didn't face a break point and closed out the match with three straight unreturnable serves.
She avenged a loss to Gauff at Toronto last year and narrowed the gap in their head-to-head, after losing three of four prior matches against the American.
Gauff fired half a dozen aces, 12 winners in all, but under the intense pressure applied by Sabalenka had 14 more unforced errors than her opponent.
Sabalenka's next opponent will be battle-tested. Seventh-ranked Sakkari has needed three sets in all three of her matches so far while Kvitova, a former world number two now ranked 15th, saved four match points in her fourth-round win over third-ranked Jessica Pegula.
L. Brown--BTZ
