Bejlek continues stunning run to set up Gauff semi

Czech Sara Bejlek continued her stunning run at the Cincinnati Open as she upset American Madison Keys to reach her first WTA 1000 semi-final, where she will face fourth seed Coco Gauff.

Unseeded Bejlek, 20, has now beaten three major champions on her run to the last four, after taking the scalps of world number one Aryna Sabalenk in the fourth round and Barbora Krejcikova earlier in the tournament.

She beat Keys 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in the quarter-finals as she seeks her second WTA title, having won the Abu Dhabi Open in February.

Bejlek was a set down and trailing 3-1 in the second set when she won five of the next six games to level the match and then fought back from 4-2 down in the decisive tie-break to win in two hours and 37 minutes.

The world number 35 said: "We had a kind of big talk with my team a couple of weeks ago, and since that moment I feel that it's going quite well and I'm getting better in the believing in myself and improving also physically on the court."

American Gauff beat Ukraine's 10th-seeded Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-2 to reach her third consecutive semi-final, having lost in the last four at Wimbledon and the Canadian Open earlier this month.

Gauff said she has changed tactics and is going to the net more which is reaping rewards.

"I didn't realize how good I was at it until Wimbledon," Gauff said.

"Everyone has been telling me to come to the net more. Actually, Chris Evert has been texting me sometimes to come to the net more. And I tell her yeah, I'm going to, and then I just don't. I finally did at Wimbledon and I won so many points that way.

"And obviously here, there's just a big difference when you're able to finish the point at the net."

The final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open, starts in New York on 30 August.