WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova defeated Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-3 in just 75 minutes at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Tuesday, becoming the first player to secure a semifinal berth at the 2026 WTA Finals.
The pair traded breaks early in the first set, before the eighth-seeded Czech broke twice more to claim the opener 6-3. Gauff's serving struggles carried into the second set as Noskova opened a 3-0 lead, and the Czech held firm the rest of the way, sealing the 6-3, 6-3 victory with her ninth ace on match point.
"Coco's a big competitor, so I was ready for everything to come my way today," Noskova said. "I feel like I held myself through a lot of tough situations."
Making her WTA Finals debut after winning her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in July, Noskova now has two straight-sets wins from two round-robin matches in Group 1.
Jessica Pegula kept her semifinal hopes alive by eliminating alternate Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5. The 2023 runner-up broke serve in the first and seventh games to take the opening set, then recovered from 5-4 down in the second after Kostyuk was undone by a costly double fault.
Kostyuk, called into the field after world No. 1 Elena Rybakina withdrew through illness, became the first player knocked out of the tournament after two defeats.
The remaining Group 1 semifinal spot will be decided between Gauff and Pegula when the round robin concludes on Thursday.
In the doubles, Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini rallied past Cristina Bucsa and Nicole Melichar-Martinez 3-6, 6-2, 10-7 for their second consecutive win, topping Group 2 to reach the semifinals for the first time in their third straight appearance at the season finale. The Italian duo were the last team to qualify for the event.
Second seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend stayed in contention by defeating Ellen Perez and Demi Schuurs 7-6 (2), 6-3, with the sixth-seeded pair eliminated after two losses. ■
