RISING AMERICANS GAUFF/MCNALLY SEEK FIRST WTA TITLE
By: Ben Raby (www.twitter.com/benraby31)
Competing for the first time since her improbable run at Wimbledon last month, 15-year-old Coco Gauff is now on the verge of her first career WTA title.
Gauff and Caty McNally cruised into the women’s doubles final Friday evening with a 61/62 win over the third-seeded tandem of Anna Kalinskaya and Miyu Kato.
Gauff and McNally won the U.S. Open Girls’ Doubles crown last fall and have yet to lose a match together. They’ll put that run of perfection on the line late Saturday afternoon when they meet the No.4 seeds, Maria Sanchez and Fanny Stollar, in the Citi Open doubles final.
“Obviously me and her know we have the game to win,” said Gauff. “We didn’t go into the tournament seeing how far we can go. We went into the tournament with getting to the finals on our mind. Hopefully we go out there and do well.”
The doubles final will be the backend of a Saturday doubleheader for McNally, who will first meet Camilia Giorgi of Italy in a singles semifinal on Stadium Court. The 17-year-old is looking forward to both matches and adding to what has already been a dream week.
“I didn’t put any expectations on myself this week,” said McNally, who earned her first career WTA match win on Tuesday. “I’m not really surprising myself because I know that I’m capable of doing this. So, I’m just super happy that I’m going out there, enjoying it and executing my game really well.”
Click here to read more about the rising American teens at the Citi Open
McNally reached the singles semifinal with a 64/63 win over No.4 seed Su-Wei Hsieh. She will next face Italy’s Camilia Giorgi with a berth in the final at stake.
The other singles semifinal pits American Jessica Pegula against Russian qualifier Anna Kalinskaya. Pegula, who also reached the Citi Open semifinals in 2016, beat Lauren Davis 62/76(6) in an All-American quarterfinal on the Grandstand.
Kalinskaya advanced with a 64/46/62 win over Kristina Mladenovic of France in the quarters.