Fourth seed Coco Gauff played nowhere near her best but still managed to scrape past Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk and reach the Australian Open semi-finals.
The 19-year-old American made 51 unforced errors and hit just 17 winners in a 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 victory.
The US Open champion fought back from 5-1 down in the first set and could not serve out the second but kept calmer than Kostyuk in the decider.
Gauff will play Aryna Sabalenka or Barbora Krejcikova in the last four.
“I’m happy, really proud of the fight I showed,” said Gauff, who had never previously gone beyond the fourth round at Melbourne Park.
“Marta is a tough opponent and always makes it hard. I really fought and left it all on the court.”
Defending champion Sabalenka takes on Czech ninth seed Krejcikova in their quarter-final later on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old Belarusian, who lost to Gauff in the US Open final in September, is yet to drop a set at Melbourne Park this fortnight, conceding just 11 games on her way to the last eight.
The other two quarter-finals in a women’s singles draw blown open by a string of high-profile early exits take place on Wednesday.
One of China’s Zheng Qinwen, Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska and Czech Republic’s Linda Noskova – none of who have ever played in a Grand Slam semi-final – will meet Gauff, Sabalenka or 2021 French Open champion Krejcikova in Saturday’s showpiece.
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